At the end of December the new Fishery and Oceanographic Research Vessel to be operated by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research of Bergen was launched at Gondan Shipyard in Figueras, Spain.
The contract for the vessel was signed in March 2014. The sophisticated ship contract was awarded to Gondan Shipyard through an international tender, in which it competed with eight Norwegian and a Spanish shipyard. The vessel will be operated under a program led by NORAD, FAO and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Designed by Skipsteknisk, the vessel is 74.5m LOA and 17.4m beam, and will mainly operate in tropic and sub-tropic areas in developing countries. Cutting edge technology has been used for the vessel to develop activities focused on marine ecosystem studies with emphasis on fish stock assessment. In addition, the vessel will be used for data collection for studies and understanding of climate change effects; mapping of marine biodiversity; measurements of CO2 and the resulting acidification of the oceans; measurements of oxygen and de-oxygenation of the oceans; and studies of pollution.
The vessel is being outfitted according to the best shipbuilding standard for modern noise reduced research vessels, in compliance with the strict requirements of ICES 209.
