Page 55: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2012)

August 2012www.marinelink.com 55The world?s move north to the Arctic for the exploration of energy resources has attracted global attention of Arctic and non-Arctic states. The newest player: China, which last month announced itsplan to design and build its first ever Polar Research Vessel. The plan has been organized by State Oceanic Administration (SOA),China, Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Adminis- tration (CAA) and the Polar Research In-stitute of China (PRIC) to build a new icebreaking research vessel to meet the country?s increased need of polar scien- tific research. As would be expected, the new vessel will be equipped with advanced scientific equipment for polar oceans research, anintegrated survey systems including ma- rine geological and geophysical equip- ment, marine biological and ecologicalinstruments. For the integrated environmental sci- ence programs the vessel will have ma- rine and atmospheric observing andsampling capabilities closely related withclimate change monitoring. The marine geological and geophysical capabilities will give possibilities for seasonal polar marine geology, marine gravity, magnetic and seismic surveys. For marine biologi- cal and ecological programs the vessel will enable marine organism and ecolog- ical surveys and acts as a biological re- search platform. To design the new ship China has turned to Finnish Arctic powerhouse Aker Arctic, an organization with a long and successful record in designs for theharsh Arctic environment. Aker Arctic will perform the conceptual and basic de-sign of the new Polar Research Vessel. The value of the signed contract for Aker Arctic is more than $5m.?After sustained effort, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) and the Aker Arctic Technology Inc., agree with all the basic design requirements of thenew Polar Research Vessel of China and sign the contract,? said Mr. Qu Tanzhou, Director General, Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration of State Oeananic Administration. ?As the first polar scientific research icebreaker for China, its successful design and build will not only push forward our polar sci- entific research career by achieving more successes, but also will make great de- velopment on Chinese ship construction industry." The polar research icebreaker for China will be designed to accommodate a totalof 90 persons and will have a length over- all of about 120m, a maximum breadth of22.3m and draft of 8.5 m. The vessel will have the ability to break through 1.5 m of level ice at 2 to 3 knots speed, including multi-year ice. The vessel will be Ice class will be PC3 and the vessel will have dual classification from China Classifi- cation Society (CCS) and Lloyds Regis- ter of Shipping (LR). Chinese to Build Polar RV MR#8 (50-57):MR Template 8/9/2012 10:06 AM Page 55