President Tsai Ing-wen on Tuesday inaugurated 2,200-ton New Ocean Researcher 1. It is the last and largest in a line of indigenous research ships. The 500-ton New Ocean Researcher 2 and 3 were formally launched last year.
Tsai said the research vessels are built by Taiwanese people and are a milestone in Taiwan’s shipbuilding industry. Tsai said New Ocean Researcher 1 is the heaviest and can travel the farthest of all the research ships.
Tsai said,“Under the cooperation between the science ministry and universities, New Ocean Researcher 1 will be traveling to Kaohsiung, Guam and Palau. It will conduct research on typhoon prone regions in the West Pacific, as well as other research in the Mariana Trench and the North Equatorial Current.”
The science ministry said that New Ocean Researcher 1 is equipped to cruise for 40 days at sea. It has a meteorological tower, a dynamic positioning system and a multi-beam echo sounder.
Along with the vessel Legend, which was also launched last year, the fleet of ships will open a new chapter in Taiwan’s oceanography studies for the next ten years.