ELECTRICAL FAULT HITS NEW ICEBREAKER

IT’S been revealed the RSV Nuyina’s journey to Hobart wasn’t all smooth sailing, after the ship suffered an electrical fault last week.

The new icebreaker, which replaces the decommissioned Aurora Australis, sailed into Hobart on Saturday after a fiveweek, 24,000km voyage from Europe.

But the Australian Antarctic Division has confirmed a hiccup one day before the ship arrived.

“The crew on-board RSV Nuyina were alerted to a fault in the electrical system that powers a propulsion motor on the port shaft line,” an AAD spokesman said.

“After assessing the issue, it was decided the ship could safely use the starboard propulsion system to enter port on Saturday morning, without needing an external tug to assist.

“Repair of this electrical fault will be covered under warranty provisions in the contract.”

The spokesman said despite the electrical fault, the vessel will still be on track for its first voyage south at the end of December.

“There was no impact on the delivery voyage to Hobart and there is no impact anticipated for future voyages,” he said.

“RSV Nuyina is designed to operate in the harsh and remote Antarctic environment and has a high level of redundancy across all its critical infrastructure systems. Issues like this are not unexpected over the next two years, as the process of commissioning the vessel and its systems occurs.”