Cammell Laird to build £200m polar research ship
Cammell Laird has been selected as the preferred bidder to build a state-of-the-art £200m polar research ship that will maintain the UK’s position firmly at the forefront of climate and ocean research, the company said in its press release.
The decision follows a 12-month competitive tender process that involved bids from companies in the UK, Europe and the Far East. The winning project will secure jobs and apprenticeships and provide a significant economic boost to Merseyside.
The Birkenhead shipyard is expected to cut steel in autumn 2016 and deliver the next generation polar research vessel ready for operation by 2019.
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.
Airborne robots and on-board environmental monitoring systems will provide detailed information on the surrounding polar environment.
Funding for the new polar research ship was announced in April 2014 as part of the Government’s science capital programme. Cammell Laird has been selected by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) through a full competitive procurement process.
The new vessel follows in a long line of Royal Research Ships, including the RRS Discovery which departs from London to Southampton after docking on the Thames to mark NERC’s 50th anniversary.
The new ship will be operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and will be available to the whole UK research community, including for postgraduate training.
