“The impressive milestone of two million nautical miles was recorded on August 26, 2026, at 14:31 ship’s time and German time at 85°05.7’N, 018°57.0’E,” as Captain Felix Kentges reported from aboard the Polarstern.
Together with AWI geophysicist and scientific expedition leader Dr. Catalina Gebhardt and the expedition participants, he is planning a celebration to mark the anniversary, which is due to take place this coming Saturday and will be featured in the Polarstern app. The Blue Saloon, the Polarstern‘s ‘parlor ‘, will be the venue for celebrations. Many notable figures have been guests there, including, for example, former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and biologist Loki Schmidt, and Nick Shackleton, a direct descendant of Ernest Shackleton, as the on-board guest book reveals.
The distance covered—a total of two million nautical miles—is equivalent to around 3.7 million kilometers, which is just over 92 circumnavigations of the Earth at the equator. And that is roughly 10 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon (360,000 to 410,000 kilometers, depending on the elliptical orbit). It remains to be seen, however, just how many more miles the Polarstern will cover. With over 40 years of service under its belt, it remains a reliable research platform thanks to careful and prudent operation, while maintenance and operating costs, as well as new requirements, mean that a successor vessel is set to replace it in 2030.
Covering great distances, however, is not the vessel’s primary task: when grabs or corers extract sediments from the seabed, or the water sampler brings liters of water from depths of hundreds of meters up onto the deck, the crew positions the Polarstern as close as possible to a scientifically particularly relevant and exciting location. The deployment of equipment such as the OFOBS (‘Ocean Floor Observation and Bathymetry System’) camera and sonar system calls for a little more maneuvering; the Polarstern tows this system at low speed just a few meters above the seabed—and has, for example, discovered millions of fish nests in Antarctica. Many of the Alfred Wegener Institute’s long-term studies depend on regular Polarstern expeditions.
At present, the flagship vessel of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), is conducting research about the geology of the Arctic Ocean. Sedimentary deposits on the seabed, several hundred meters thick and extending down to the oceanic crust, are being mapped by way of geophysical methods and sampled with the help of core-sampling equipment.
Catalina Gebhardt explained: “For example, we are investigating how the Lomonosov Ridge—which rises up to 3,000 meters above the deep seabed and stretches across the entire Arctic Ocean—has influenced ocean currents in the past and today. From our measurements, we can deduce how the Arctic changed during past warm periods, and this enables us to provide reliable boundary conditions and parameters for climate models—vital information for gaining a better understanding of the dynamics of ice sheets, researching past warm periods and, in doing so, learning about the future of the ice sheets.” In order to conduct such geophysical measurements, the Polarstern collects data along profiles, during which it travels at speeds of up to five knots. Over the course of an expedition, this can quickly add up to several thousand kilometers.
In addition, the Polarstern is a genuine commuter, shuttling between the poles, as its operational area encompasses both the Arctic and the Antarctic. On its transit routes across the Atlantic, the ship collects so-called en route data—for example, on meteorology, atmospheric chemistry, and seabed morphology—which provide important data points for global weather forecasting systems and environmental research. These transits also serve to train the next generation of scientists. In Antarctica, the Polarstern regularly supplies the German Neumayer Station with operational supplies, scientific equipment, and provisions. The vessel is regularly equipped and fitted out, undergoes servicing and, where necessary, is repaired at its home port of Bremerhaven in preparation for its voyages. The route the ship takes from there varies depending on the scientific objectives—and many nautical miles are also covered during the journeys to and from the research areas. On average, the Polarstern covers some 50,000 nautical miles annually and is at sea for around 305 days a year.
