CSSC to Build Research Vessels
China's government controlled China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) is going beyond building navy vessels and making advanced scientific research ships, Xinhua reported.
CSSC has been focussing on defence sector till now. It was the largest supplier of surface combatants to the Chinese Navy, said the report.
CSSC has been using its expertise in the research and development of naval hardware to construct high-tech civilian ships, encouraged by government measures to boost transfer of defense-related technologies to civilian and business sectors, said company officials.
The company is currently making a polar research icebreaker－the first to be built from the keel up by China－at the Jiangnan Shipyard, and the country's first marine resources survey ship at the Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding Co in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.
Both ships will have the top technological and operational capacity of their kind in the world. They are scheduled to be completed and commissioned by the State Oceanic Administration in 2019, the company said.
The polar research icebreaker will be about 123 meters long and 22 m wide, with a displacement of nearly 14,000 metric tons. Carrying up to 90 crew members and researchers, it is designed to be able to travel 20,000 nautical miles or 37,000 kilometers on each journey, according to CSSC.
The marine resources survey ship will be 98 meters long and 17 m wide and will have a displacement of 4,000 tons. It will be driven by an advanced electric propulsion system.
The new vessel is expected to carry more than 70 kinds of scientific research equipment, and is capable of conducting high-accuracy, long-term survey in a wide range of fields such as marine geology, marine ecology and ocean-atmosphere system.
