In order to trim the ship as much as possible by the stern, which was desirable on account of her carrying a weather helm, a number of heavy spare stores, such as the old port anchor and its cable, were stowed aft, and the extreme after-peak was filled with cement containing round pieces of iron punched out of plates.

Along the railing round the fore-deck strong netting has been placed to prevent the dogs falling overboard.  For the upper deck a loose wooden grating has been made, so that the dogs shall not lie on the wet deck.  Awnings are provided over the whole deck, with only the necessary openings for working the ship.  In this way the dogs have been given dry and, as far as possible, cool quarters for the voyage through the tropics.  It is proposed to use the ship’s spars as supports for a roof of boards, to be put up during the drift through the ice as a protection against falling masses of ice.

The Fram’s new engine is a direct reversible Marine-Polar-Motor, built by the Diesel Motor Co., of Stockholm.  It is a Diesel engine, with four working and two air-pump cylinders, and develops normally at 280 revolutions per minute 180 effective horse-power, with a consumption of oil of about 7 3/4 ounces per effective horse-power per hour.  With this comparatively small consumption, the Fram’s fuel capacity will carry her much farther than if she had a steam-engine, a consideration of great importance in her forthcoming long voyage in the Arctic Sea.  With her oil capacity of about 90 tons, she will thus be able to go uninterruptedly for about 2,273 hours, or about 95 days.  If we reckon her speed under engine power alone at 4 1/2 knots, she will be able to go about 10,000 nautical miles without replenishing her oil-supply.  It is a fault in the new engine that its number of revolutions is very high, which necessitates the use of a propeller of small diameter (5 feet 9 inches), and thus of low efficiency in the existing conditions.  This is the more marked on account of the unusual thickness of the Fram’s propeller-post, which masks the propeller to a great extent.  The position of the engine will be seen in Fig. 1.  The exhaust gases from the engine are sent up by a pipe through the after-saloon, through its skylight, and up to a large valve on the bridge; from this valve two horizontal pipes run along the after side of the bridge, one to each side:  By means of the valve the gases can be diverted to one side or the other, according to the direction of the wind, Besides the usual auxiliary engines, the main engine drives a large centrifugal bilge-pump, an ordinary machine bilge-pump, and a fan for use in the tropics.

When the Fram left Christiania in the spring of 1910, after taking her cargo on board, she drew 17 feet forward and 19 feet 5 inches aft.  This corresponds to a displacement (measured outside the ice-skin) of about 1,100 tons.  The ice-skin was then 12 1/2 inches above the waterline amidships.