Singapore-based Marco Polo Marine, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Marco Polo Shipyard, has been awarded a contract from the National Academy of Marine Research of Taiwan (NAMR) for the design and construction of a 4,000GT oceanographic research vessel.
The contract is valued at approximately NT$4.678 billion (US$150 million).
The vessel will be built over 1,460 days at the Marco Polo Group's shipyard in Batam, Indonesia, with engineering and commercial support provided from Singapore.
Designed by Norwegian naval architecture firm Skipsteknisk, the vessel will be built to dual class CR Classification Society and American Bureau of Shipping standards.
The vessel will be fitted with a DP2 system and diesel-electric propulsion with twin azimuthing thrusters and bow and retractable thrusters. It will also be equipped with an energy storage system and a waste heat recovery system.
The vessel will be designed for low-noise operations, minimising acoustic output while sensitive research operations are being performed. Facilities will include dry and wet laboratories and an A-frame for launching and recovering remotely operated vehicles.
