Royal Navy ice breaker heads south after northern mission

The Plymouth-based survey and scientific vessel usually patrols the Antarctic, but occasionally to Arctic climates to certify that she is able to operate in the icy northern regions, which are vastly different to work in despite their visual similarities.

The ice breaker sailed through the Hudson Strait into Hudson Bay – the inland sea indenting east-central Canada – to carry out two weeks of ice-breaking operations in northern polar waters, for the first time since 2022.

Primarily, Protector’s deployment to Hudson Bay provided important training in navigating this unique region but also saw the forging of closer bonds with the Canadian Coast Guard, which operates more than 20 icebreakers across the Arctic.

The Canadian Coast Guard’s Captain Duane Barron joined HMS Protector for their mission, sharing his wealth of knowledge with the ship’s officers, as they navigated through ice and fog.

Commanding Officer, Captain Tom Weaver, said: “This was a great opportunity to operate at the opposite end of the world than we are used to and hone our ice-breaking skills with the help of the Canadian Coast Guard. 

“In the north we saw vast floes of sea ice, moving with the winds and the strong currents, some of it formed last winter, some of it formed many years ago, getting harder with age. 

“In Antarctica we see more icebergs and ice from glaciers that is thousands of years old and hard as concrete. In both places you need to know what you are looking at to avoid getting into trouble, so ice training in different conditions is always valuable.”

Protector also observed a wide array of wildlife during her northern mission, including seeing a polar bear and her cub on a fresh Arctic morning.

Completing her time in the Arctic, Protector stopped in Quebec City, joining a group of allied ships which opened their gangways to visitors, including the US Navy’s USS Carney, Canadian ships HMCS Fredericton, HMCS William Hall and French ship FS Rhone.

Protector is now bound for the Caribbean and a transit of the Panama Canal before a period of maintenance ahead of her first patrol of the Antarctic during the 2024-25 ‘season’.