Chilean Antarctic Territory
The vessel was built for the Chilean Navy by the "Haarlemsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij" ("Haarlem Shipbuilding Company") of Haarlem, Netherlands, launched on 11 June 1958, and commissioned on 7 April 1959. She was constructed specifically for servicing the scientific bases established in the Chilean Antarctic Territory. The ship measures 83 meters overall length and 11.9 meters wide, with a gross tonnage of over 2,000 metric tons and a draught of 4.60 meters, with an ice-strengthened hull for polar navigation. The ship was christened "Piloto Pardo", after Luis Pardo, the captain of the cutter "Yelcho", which rescued the stranded men of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance Expedition from Elephant Island, Antarctica, in August 1916.