New buoy tenders have entered service in Russia and China as orders were placed for research vessels including a trimaran designed for use in the Great Barrier Reef and a polar icebreaker for a South Korean science organisation.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) of South Korea has selected local shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean for the construction of a new icebreaking research vessel.
Hanwha Ocean confirmed earlier this week that it has been selected as a preferred negotiator for the construction of the vessel, which will be used primarily for exploration of the polar regions.
China's Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group handed over a new large buoy maintenance vessel to the China Maritime Safety Administration (CMSA) on Saturday, June 28.
The steel-hulled Haixun 176 was built to a design by the 708 Research Institute of the China Shipbuilding Group. The vessel has an LOA of 75 metres, a beam of 14 metres, a depth of 6.3 metres, a design draught of four metres, and a displacement of 2,450 tons at full load.
US naval architecture firm Glosten has unveiled design images of a future research vessel ordered by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS).
The trimaran vessel is designed to support AIMS’ ongoing research on the Great Barrier Reef, including efforts to understand coral resilience.
Glosten designed the vessel with support from Australia's One2three Naval Architects.
Spain's Freire Shipyard has been selected to build a new multi-disciplinary research vessel ordered by the Danish National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU Aqua).
Dana V will be built entirely in Freire Shipyard's Galicia facilities under €57 million (US$66 million) investment. The vessel is scheduled to enter service with DTU Aqua in the autumn of 2027.
Russian inland waterway transport agency Rechvodput has deployed two of its newest buoy tenders to its Lena Basin Administration in Yakutia for operation on the Kolyma River.
Anyui and Sugoi belong to the Project 3050.1A series of buoy tenders, the first examples of which entered service with Rechvodput in late 2024.