Almirante Viel is a Polar Class 5 icebreaker operated by the Chilean Navy. Previously referred to with the project name Antartica 1, it will replace the 1969-built second-hand vessel Almirante Óscar Viel acquired from Canada in 1994 and decommissioned in 2019. Accounts differ as to when construction of the ship began. The Santiago Times reported the first steel was cut in May 2017, while Jane's Navy International reported construction began in August 2018.
Almirante Viel is 111m (364feet) long and has a beam and draft of 21m (69feet) and 7.2m (23.6feet). She displaces 13,000 tons. Her maximum speed is 15knots.
She will have the capacity to house 150 crew and researchers or passengers.
She will be able to sail through one-year ice, one meter thick, at .
Maritime Executive reports that when completed, she will be comparable to Argentina's .