Polar Pioneer

Polar Pioneer is a Finnish-built expedition cruise ship operated by the Australian cruise company Aurora Expeditions.

The Polar Pioneer in Shetland
History
Soviet Union/Russia
Name:	Akademik Shuleykin (1982–2001) Polar Pioneer (2001–present)
Owner:	Polar Expedition[1]
Operator:	Marine Service-RUS
Port of registry:	Leningrad, 1982–1993 Saint Petersburg, 1993–2012
Builder:	Oy Laivateollisuus Ab, Turku, Finland
Yard number:	342[1]
Completed:	7 July 1982
In service:	1982
Identification:	Callsign: UBST IMO number: 8010324 MMSI number: 273454860
Status:	In service
General characteristics
Class and type:	Akademik Shuleykin class research vessel
Tonnage:	1,753 GT 526 NT[1]
Length:	71.06 m (233.1 ft)[1]
Beam:	12.82 m (42.1 ft)[1]
Draught:	4.5 m (15 ft)
Depth:	6.45 m (21.2 ft)
Decks:	2[1]
Installed power:	2 × 6CHRNP 36/45 (6ЧРН36/45) 2,294 kilowatts (3,076 hp)[1]
Propulsion:	1 controllable-pitch propeller
Speed:	26 km/h (16 mph; 14 kn)
Capacity:	54 passengers[1]
Crew:	23

Polar Pioneer in the Errera Channel of Antarctica

The ship was built in Finland in 1982 as the Akademik Schuleykin (Russian: Академик Шулейкин), an ice-strengthened research ship, and for many years she plied the waters of the USSR's northern coast. In 2000 she was refurbished in St. Petersburg to provide comfortable accommodation for 54 passengers.[2]

Her sister ships are Akademik Shokalskiy, Arnold Veymer, Akademik Gamburtsev, Professor Molchanov, Professor Multanovskiy, Geolog Dmitriy Nalivkin, Professor Polshkov, Professor Khromov.

Polar Pioneer is currently the flagship for Aurora Expeditions.