The German Government, through the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie; BSH), has selected Spanish shipbuilder Gondan for the construction of two new research vessels.
Wega and Deneb will be designed by Spanish naval architecture firm Seaplace. The vessels' area of operation will encompass the Baltic Sea.
Upon completion, the new BSH vessels will each have a length of approximately 70 metres, a beam of 15 metres, a dynamic positioning system, and a propulsion system that can be configured to run on methanol.
The hydrographic equipment suite on each vessel will include unmanned underwater vehicles that can be used for a range of duties such as data collection and investigation of submerged obstacles.
The vessels will comply with DNV's "Silent-R" notation, which will indicate low-noise operation to allow for accurate acoustic measurements.
Gondan was selected for the construction of the new BSH research vessels following a three-year tender process.
