Brief Introduction

The Research Vessel KEXUE is one of the national major science and technology infrastructures to undertake multi-disciplinary deep ocean research. The ship was designed by Marine Design & Research Institute of China, and built by Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd. She was delivered in 2012 and is operated by the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. This research ship will provide a state-of-the-art platform for researchers to address some of the world's most pressing environmental issues.

Scientific Research Missions of RV KEXUE:

l Ocean circulation and climate change

l Marine dynamic process and natural hazards

l Deep-sea biological/gene resources and biodiversity

l Ocean ecosystem and carbon cycle

l Hydrothermal system in mid-ocean ridge and continental margins and deep earth processes

l Formation mechanism of deep-sea oil and gas resources

 

Chronicle of events

20/12/2007   Proposal of Multi-purpose Oceanographic Research Vessel (MORV) was approved.

31/12/2008   MORV Feasibility study report was approved.

05/08/2009   MORV Draft design and budget report were approved.

19/04/2010   MORV Commencement report was approved.

28/10/2010   Started to build in Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd.

30/11/2011   Launched in Wuhan and named RV KEXUE.

28/06/2012   Obtained CCS Certificate issued by CCS

29/09/2012   Delivered to the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Qingdao

01/01/2013   Started sea trials.

24/04/2015   Passed National Acceptance

 

Vessel

The length of RV KEXUE is 99.8m with a breadth of 17.8m and a depth of 8.9m. The ship has a gross tonnage of 4711 and a range of 15,000 nautical miles. Accommodation aboard the vessel has 80 berths, which includes scientific berths, the permanent crew complement and technicians. The ship is driven by advanced podded electric propulsion system and two sets of bow thrusters. One-man- bridge operation provides almost 360º view over the entire vessel and surroundings. The engine control room is unmanned, and dynamic positioning system keeps the vessel within specified position and heading limits. The linear optimized design of bulb bow, drop keel and bow thruster groove cover provide low noise environment for acoustic survey.

 

Main Specifications of RV KEXUE

 

Working Deck and Winches, Cranes, Handling Equipment

RV KEXUE has a spacious working deck, including 438 m² foredeck, 488 m² afterdeck and 138 m² shelter deck. The ship is equipped with winches, cranes, A-frames and other gear for over-the-side work, including:

Onboard Scientific Survey Equipment

l Water Column Exploration System

l Atmospheric Detection System

l Seafloor Exploration System

l Deep-sea Extreme Environment Exploration System

l Remote Sensing Validation System

l Onboard Scientific Labs

l Onboard Network

 

Water Column Exploration System

   To reveal ocean circulation dynamic process and material cycle flux, and ensure the protection of fisheries resources, the ship can investigate integrately marine hydrological, chemical and biological parameters and their 3D distribution features. The equipment include: CTD, ADCP, Undulating Towed Vehicle, Surface Multi-elements Acquisition System, Multi-net Plankton Samplers and Scientific Echo Sounder, etc. 

 

Atmospheric Detection System

Atmospheric Detection System can carry on related study of marine dynamic process, air-sea interaction, ocean circulation and atmospheric sciences. The ship can obtain continuously high resolution temperature, pressure, humidity, wind, rainfall and air-sea flux data of sea surface, atmospheric boundary layer and upper air in real time. It mainly consists of Meteorological Continuous Detection and Data Acquisition, Air-Sea Fluxes Observation System, Captive Autoboat, and Sounding Rocket.

 

Seafloor Exploration System

   Seafloor Exploration System can undertake the task of exploring the surface of the seafloor and sedimentary strata. It is equipped with Multi Beam Echo Sounder, High-resolution Sub-bottom Profiler & Echo Sounder, Marine Gravity-meter and Magnetometer, Digital Multi-channel Seismic System, etc.

 

Deep-sea Extreme Environment Exploration System

   Deep-sea Extreme Environment Exploration System can enable scientists to carry on comprehensive scientific investigation, observe seafloor topography and collect biological and geological samples in black and high pressure deep-sea environment. The equipment includes Deep Towed Vehicle, Ultra Short Baseline Locating System, ROV, Gravity Piston Corer, Core Sampling Drill, and GTV.

 

Remote Sensing Validation System

This system can obtain high-quality water property, ocean color and wave information, providing in-site verification and calculation test for marine remote sensing satellite. Main equipment are as follows: WAVEX System, Uv-vis Spectrophotometry, Multi-Spectral Absorption and Attenuation Meter, Multi-purpose Spectrometer Processing Software, Backcattering Meter, Hyperspectral Surface Acquisition System, Hyper-spectral Sub-surface Profiler, etc.

 

Shipboard Scientific Lab

Shipboard Scientific Lab has versatile labs and professional laboratories, collocating the supply of water (purified sea water, ultra-pure water), electricity (380VAC、220VAC、24VDC), air (He, N₂, CO₂, Compressed air) and analyzing equipment for marine scientific experiments, such as: Ultra-Pure Water System, Automatic Nutrient Salt Analyzer, Total Organic Carbon Analyzer, Inverted Biological Microscope, Stereo Microscope, High Speed Refrigerated Centrifuge, Ultra-low Temperature Freezer, Ice Making Machine, Light Incubator, Multi-parameter Water Detection Instrument, Multi Sensor Core Logger, etc.

 

The laboratories include:

Acoustic Apparatus Controlling Center（50m²）

Network Center（17m²）

Data Processing Lab（40m²）

Clean Operating Lab（10m²）

General Dry Lab（79m²）

General Wet Lab（64m²）

Chemistry Lab（26m²）

Geophysical Lab and ROV Control Room（28m²）

Gravitymeter Room（10 m²）

Fidelity-sample Processing Lab（16m²）

Chilled and Climate Controlled Room（24m²）

Clean Sea Water Lab（10m²）

Clean Sea Water Pump Room（20m²）

Experimental Sample Refrigerating Room（30m²）

Sample Storage Room（50m²）

And can install 7 container labs.

 

Shipboard Network

   Shipboard Network includes shipboard navigator and communication, data processing, network management, video monitoring, and shipboard entertainment, etc. It has gigabit backbone network, 100M desk, about 200 nodes and 92GT storage capacity. Network information system can connect 32 video cameras, carry through the collection, transformation, storage, process and display of shipboard exploration data, and monitor remote exploring equipment and engine room alarm; establish shipboard database such as exploration data, navigation data and shipping management information.

 

Main Equipment

No.	Name	Type/ Main Particulars
1	Main Generators
	Diesel Engine	Wartsila8L26×3+Wartsila4L20; 2720kw×3+1×800 kw×1; 1000rpm
	Generator	ABB AMG0560×3+AMG0400, 2620kw×3+758kw 1000 rpm
2	Propulsion System
	Main Propulsion 2 Sets	ABB Compact Azipod; 1900kw; 300 rpm
	Bow Thruster 2 Sets	Wartsila; 750kw; 1000 rpm
3	Communication and Navigation Equipment
	Satellite Communication System	Sea Tel
	Satellite TV system	Sea Tel
4	Dynamic Positioning System	Kongsberg K-Pos DP-1 and CJoy
5	Working Boat	6 Persons, 30 knots
6	Anti-rolling Tank System	Rolls-Royce Interring Stabilizer
7	Motion Sensor	Kongsberg MRU H
8	Shipboard Exploration Equipment
8-1	Atmospheric Detection System
	Shipboard Automatic Weather Station System	Vaisala MAWS420
	Air-Sea Fluxes Observation System	SubCtech MK3
	Captive Boat/ Sounding Rocket	Self-developed
8-2	Water Column Exploration System
	CTD	Seabird SBE9/11 plus
	ADCP	TRDI OS-38k, WHMarine300k
	Undulated Towed Vehicle	Chelsea SeaSoar MarkII
	Multinet Plankton Samplers	Hydro-bios Multi-net Max
	Scientific Echo Sounder	Kongsberg EK60
8-3	Seafloor Exploration System
	High Accuracy Differential GPS Positioning and Navigation System	C & C Technologies Inc C-Nav 3050M
	Shallow Water Multi-beam	R2SONIC SONIC2024
	Deep Water Multi-beam	L3 SB3012
	Topographic Parametric Sonar and Echo Sounder System	Kongsberg Topas PS 18
	Marine Gravitymeter System	BGGS KSS 32-M
	Seaspy Marine Magnetometer	Marine Magnetics Seaspy
	Multi-channel Digital Seismic System	HydroSciences SeaMux (120 channel); Sercel Gun II
8-4	Deep-sea Extreme Environment Exploration System
	Deep Towed Vehicle	Self-developed
	Ultra Short Base Line Positioning System	Sonardyne Ranger2
	Remotely Operated Vehicle	Quasar MkII
	Core Sampling Drill	Self-developed, 5m drilling depth
	TV Grab	Self-developed
	Gravity Piston Sampler	Self-developed, 30m coring depth
8-5	Remote Sensing Validation System
	Motion Sensor	Kongsberg MRU H
	Wave Measuring System	Miros AS; WAVEX；
	Spectrophotometer	Agilent Technologies Cary 100
	Multi-Spectral Absorption and Attenuation Meter	Wet Labs AC-S
	Spectral Scattering Meter	Wet Labs bb9
	Hyperspectral Surface Acquisition System	Satlantic Hyper SAS
	Hyperspectral Profiler	Satlantic HPRO II
9	Shipboard Scientific Equipment
	Multi Sensor Core Logger	Geotek   MSCL-S
	Automatic Nutrient Salt Analyzer	SEAL QuAAtro
	Total Organic Carbon Analyzer	Multi N/C 2100BU
	High Speed Refrigerated Centrifuge	Eppendorf 5804R
	Inverted Biological Microscope	DMIL
	Stereo Microscope	S6D
	Light Incubator	Sanyo MLR-351H
	Ultra-Pure Water System	Sartorius arium EDI61215+arium pro611VF
	Ultra-low Temperature Freezer	Sanyo MDF-382E
	Ice Making Machine	Sanyo SIM-F140AY65
	Container Lab
10	Shipboard Network System
	Network Information System	Sicom3048-4Gx