Posted on: 15 October 2015
The UK Marine Industries Alliance has welcomed the government’s announcement that the preferred bidder to build a state-of-the-art £200 million polar research ship is a UK company.
A delighted Gregory Darling, Chair of the Alliance, said “this decision is excellent news for the UK maritime enterprise especially as the successful bidder, Cammell Laird, emerged from a strong international competition.”
He continued “this announcement together with the recent publication of the government’s Maritime Growth Study confirms the message that the UK is a significant player in the global maritime market and our international customers and investors can have confidence in what the UK has to offer”.
The new polar research ship, which will operate in both Antarctica and the Arctic, will be able to endure up to 60 days in sea-ice to enable scientists to gather more observations and data. The ship will be the first British-built polar research vessel with a heli-deck to open up new locations for science and will be one of the most sophisticated floating research laboratories operating in the Polar Regions.
Tonne for tonne, the UK will have the most advanced oceanographic research vessel fleet in the world. Robotic submarines and marine gliders will collect data on ocean conditions and marine biology and deliver it to scientists working in the ship’s on-board laboratories.
