In the Antarctic summer, several companies offer excursions on ice-strengthened vessels to Antarctica. Ice-strengthened (not quite as tough as icebreaker) boats are preferred since icebreakers are round on the bottom—a configuration that amplifies the already massive wave action in the Drake passage...
She was stuck in ice for two weeks, which, added to the three weeks entrapment a month ago, makes for 5 weeks lost time this season.`Polar Bird'has a strengthened hull for sea ice, but is not an icebreaker as such. Clearly, the need for proper icebreakers to serve the Antarctic base...