The RV Sonne (German for 'Sun') is a former German fishing trawler converted into a research vessel by Schichau Unterweser AG, doing mostly geoscience-related work for a variety of commercial and scientific clients. She was registered in Bremen.[1] In 2015 she was sold to the Argentine institute CONICET and was renamed ARA Austral (Q-21). A new geoscientific research ship, also called RV Sonne, replaced her role in Germany that same year.
Rickmers Werft built Sonne in 1969 as a stern trawler and delivered her to Hochseefischerei Nordstern. From her homeport of Bremerhaven she operated mainly in the waters around Iceland, Greenland and Labrador.
Sonne was converted for use in a scientific exploration role by Schichau Unterweser AG in 1977 and by Rickmers Werft in 1978. In 1991 Schichau-Seebeck-Werft lengthened and modernized her.[1]
An order worth €124.4 million for a new geoscientific research ship was placed by the German federal ministry for education and research (90%) together with the coastal states Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Bremen and Hamburg (10%) in May 2011. The new ship, also called Sonne, was built in Meyer Werft in Papenburg, and replaced the old Sonne in 2015.[2] Its launch took place on 5 April 2014.[3]
The last German cruise of RV Sonne took place in August 2014, after which she was retired from German scientific use.
She was sold to the Argentinian institute CONICET for € 5.150.000 and she arrived in the Argentine Navy naval base at Mar del Plata in February 2015. In June she was renamed ARA Austral (Q-21). Austral is operated by a naval crew, on behalf of the civilian agency CONICET.[4] [5]
Sonne appears in Frank Schätzing's novel The Swarm in connection with methane measurements off the Norwegian coast.[6]