The RV Araon is a large icebreaker

Icebreaker

An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels .For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most...

 operated by the Government of South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

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The vessel was commissioned in 2009.
She supplies the King Sejong Station

King Sejong Station

The King Sejong Station is a research station for the Korea Antarctic Research Program, and it is named after King Sejong the Great of Joseon. Established on February 17th, 1988, it consists of 11 facility buildings and two observatories, and it is located on the Barton Peninsula...

, and will supply the Jang Bogo Station

Jang Bogo Station

The Jang Bogo Station in Terra Nova Bay in the Antarctic is a proposed South Korean research station to be built in 2012. The base will house 15 people in winter and 60 in summer in a 4000 square metre building with three wings, and will be among the larger permanent bases in Antarctica.The base,...

, South Korea's second planned Antarctic

Antarctic

The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...

 research station.

She underwent her sea trial

Sea trial

A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft . It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.Sea trials are conducted to measure a vessel’s...

s in January 2010, in the Ross Sea

Ross Sea

The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land.-Description:The Ross Sea was discovered by James Ross in 1841. In the west of the Ross Sea is Ross Island with the Mt. Erebus volcano, in the east Roosevelt Island. The southern part is covered...

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Her first foreign port of call

Port of Call

-Synopsis:Berit, a young woman living in a working-class port town begins a relationship with Gösta, a sailor newly returned from overseas and intent upon staying on land...

 was Lyttelton, New Zealand

Lyttelton, New Zealand

Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour close to Banks Peninsula, a suburb of Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand....

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The first location her crew investigated, for a South Korean Antarctic base, in the Cape Burks

Cape Burks

Cape Burks is a prominent rock cape, the northwestern seaward extension of McDonald Heights, marking the east side of the entrance of Hull Bay on the coast of Marie Byrd Land. The cape was sighted and mapped from the USS Glacier, January 31, 1962, and was named for Lieutenant Commander Ernest...

 area, was not deemed suitable, and she then investigated the selected site in Terra Nova Bay

Terra Nova Bay

Terra Nova Bay is a bay which is often ice free, about long, lying between Cape Washington and the Drygalski Ice Tongue along the coast of Victoria Land, Antarctica....

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