
The Argentine government is putting pressure on contractors so that the Navy's flagship icebreaker Almirante Irizar, partially destroyed by fire in 2007, can begin sea trials later this year. However over-costs and mismanagement of the funds invested, estimated at over 650 million dollars, could have purchased a new vessel of three second hand according to critics in Congress.

The Royal Navy’s Ice Patrol ship HMS Protector is on her way for an eight-month deployment surveying and patrolling Antarctica. She left Portsmouth late September and is currently visiting St Helena to conduct surveys of the harbour in preparation for the building of a new jetty.