Serco : New icebreaker name revealed

Image: Department of the Environment, Australian Antarctic Division

The Environment Minister, the Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP, has today revealed the name of Australia's new icebreaker vessel; the RSVNuyina (noy-yee-nah). The name was selected as part of the Turnbull Government's national 'Name our Icebreaker' competition, which attracted nearly 800 entries from primary and secondary students across Australia.

Nuyinameans 'Southern Lights' in palawakani, the language of Tasmanian Aborigines. The name was selected by twelve students from St Virgil's College in Hobart, Tasmania, and Secret Harbour Primary School near Perth in West Australia.

'Using the name nuyinafor the Hobart-based ship recognises the long spiritual connection Tasmanian Aboriginal people have with the frozen continent, as the most southerly humans on the planet during the last ice age,' Mr Frydenberg said.

The winning students will be flown to Antarctica in November, where they are set to become the first children to set foot on the icy continent as part of the Australian Antarctic program.

Serco is responsible for the Design, Build, Operation and Maintenance (DBOM) of the $1.9 billion state-of-the-art ship for the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) of the Department of the Environment. The keel of RSV Nuyina was laid in August, marking the end of the functional design of the vessel and the start of the shipbuilding process. The RSV Nuyina will arrive in Hobart in 2020.