In May 2025, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released its 2026 budget request, which includes plans to terminate the lease on the RV Nathaniel B. Palmer, the only research ship in the U.S. that can reach Antarctica. In response, 170 researchers sent a letter to NSF leadership and Congress asking them to reconsider the decision, which would deal a serious blow to Antarctic research.
The Palmer is currently used by the U.S. to gather critical data on how ocean waters carry carbon and heat to the deep ocean and how warm currents drive the melting of the Antarctic ice sheet. The Palmer has supported significant research at the Thwaites Glacier, the so-called “doomsday” glacier in a remote part of West Antarctica, since its launch in 1992.
Although the U.S. is developing a new icebreaker, it will not be ready for at least another decade. The NSF has proposed that the RV Sikuliaq, an Alaskan icebreaker, assume some of the Palmer's roles, but experts say the Sikuliaq is insufficient for Antarctic research needs. Julia Wellner, a marine geologist at the University of Houston, called the ship “wholly unsuited to most of what we do in Antarctica.”