Friday (Nov 11) at high tide, the Fishery and Oceanographic Research Vessel “Dr Fridtjof Nansen” has left Gondan Shipyard facilities in Figueras, setting sail for Gijón. The construction project enters its final stage, in which the vessel will have to complete a comprehensive set of sea trials, closely overseen by Yard and main suppliers representatives, the Owner’s Technical Surveyors, and Classification Society inspectors. These sea trials are expected to be over by the end of the year, and once they are completed the vessel will travel together with the crew towards its destination, Norway.

Research Vessel Dr Fridtjof Nansen set to begin Sea Trials

The vessel will mainly operate in tropic and sub-tropic areas in developing countries. Cutting edge technology has been used for the vessel to develop activities focused on marine ecosystem studies with emphasis on fish stock assessment. In addition, the vessel will be used for: data collection for studies and understanding of climate change effects, mapping of marine biodiversity, measurements of CO2 and the resulting acidification of the oceans, measurements of oxygen and de-oxygenation of the oceans and studies of pollution.

The Vessel has been outfitted according to the best shipbuilding standard for modern noise reduced Research Vessels, in compliance with the strict requirements of ICES 209 -the most restrictive standard for vessel underwater noise control. Amongst the many tests that take place during the sea trials, different measurements of underwater noise will be performed, some of them by an independent company at a naval base in Norway.

Source: Gondan