PHOTOS: First sighting of the aurora australis from the RSV Nuyina
Crew members on board Australia’s newest icebreaker have captured the moment they saw the aurora australis from the ship for the very first time. SEE THE PICTURES >>
Tasmania
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THERE has been a first sighting of the aurora australis from Australia’s newest icebreaker
named after the spectacle.
Those onboard the Nuyina were treated to the display on Wednesday night.
The name nuyina means ‘southern lights’ in palawa kani, the language of Tasmania’s Indigenous.
The $500m icebreaker is on a 24,000km journey from Vlissingen in the Netherlands to Hobart and is expected to arrive in later this month.
The RSV Nuyina replaces the Aurora Australis after the older vessel was retired in mid 2020.
The Nuyina is larger is 160m long, compared with the Aurora Australis, which was 94.5m long.
It is equipped with a sauna, a library, a theatre, lounges and a gym three times larger than the one on its predecessor.
The new vessel can carry 32 crew and 117 expeditioners on board for trips lasting up to three months.
After it arrives in Hobart the Nuyina will undergo further testing and ice trials in Antarctica.
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