Australia's new Antarctic icebreaker floats and it doesn't leak.
Named Nuyina by schoolchildren as part of a competition, the ship is being constructed in Romania and has been put into water for the first time.
The operation took two days and involved pumping 50 Olympic sized swimming pools worth of water from the Danube River into its dry dock, raising the water level by six metres.
The Australian Antarctic Division's Modernisation Program Manager, Rob Bryson, said he was pleased the floating of the ship went to plan.
"We've been testing it over the last five days to make sure there was no water ingress into the ship and I can safely and happily report there was no water ingress," he said.
The ship currently weighs 10,000 tonnes but will be 25,000 tonnes once completed and fully loaded.
Now the ship has been moved to a wet dock construction of the upper levels will begin.
"There's another six decks to go on, that includes all the accommodation areas, all the scientific laboratories, the bridge of the ship and the upper masts and all that kind of good stuff," Mr Bryson said.
By late next year, the ship's icebreaking capabilities will be tested.
"We'll be taking the ship up into the Arctic and testing its icebreaking abilities off Norway in the sea ice up there," he said.
The $2 billion ship is due to replace the Aurora Australis by 2020 and is expected to have a 30-year working life.
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