The only icebreaker of the Royal Navy of Great Britain, HMS Protector, returned to the port of Devonport due to a double engine malfunction. This was reported by The Telegraph newspaper.
"The UK was left without its most important ice patrol ship after its engine failed at sea," the publication said.
According to the newspaper, the ship had to be towed back to Plymouth shortly after leaving the UK. The cause of the breakdown could be maintenance problems. Now the agency is assessing the possibility of repair, but if it is impossible to restore the vessel, a replacement can be found only in the 2030s.
As the Telegraph notes, the absence of an icebreaker may prevent the UK from fulfilling its obligations under the Antarctic Treaty related to its permanent presence in the British Antarctic Territory, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
The previous icebreaker HMS Endurance received a hole in 2008. The reason was called low engineering standards. HMS Protector replaced it about three years later.
The vessel was built in Norway in 2000. In 2011, the British Navy leased it for $ 12 million a year, and in 2013 bought it for $ 67 million, Izvestia clarifies.
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