The Royal Navy ocean survey ship HMS Scott has returned to Antarctica for Ice patrol duties that include scientific research in coordination with the UK Hydrographic Office and the British Antarctic Survey.
The Royal Navy has revealed it is replacing flood-damaged HMS Endurance with an icebreaker to be named HMS Protector.
The future of the Royal Navy’s ice patrol vessel HMS Endurance may remain in doubt well over a year after it nearly sank in the Straits of Magellan and returned to Portsmouth on the lift ship MV Target, but there is no doubting the UK’s ongoing commitment to the Antarctic Treaty.
Senior Royal Navy sources have confirmed a vessel from Norway will join the fleet early next year to replace Endurance, which almost sank in 2008, reports The News from Portsmouth.