China’s brand new scientific research vessel named Kexue (Science) has been delivered to the Institute of Oceanology (Chinese Academy of Sciences). Construction of the vessel, with a total cost of 550 million yuan (86.4 million U.S. dollars), started last year at the Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Company after approval by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2007.
The vessel, 99.6 m long and 17.8 wide, is equipped with a podded electric propulsion system.
The ship also features world-class facilities for water body detection, atmospheric exploration, deep-sea environment exploration and remote sensing information research. The cruising capacity of the ship reaches 15,000 nautical miles at speeds up to 15 knots.
Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd was founded in 1934 and is one of the key enterprises under China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. (CSIC). There are more than 8300 employees in the company, among them more than 2000 are engineers and management personnel. At the same time, the shipyard owns a backbone team of experienced, skilled and well-trained workers.
[mappress] Shipbuilding Tribune Staff, October 1, 2012; Image: csic