MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. The Institute of Oceanology (the Russian Academy of Sciences) and the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau are discussing design and building of scientific fleet. About ten different scientific vessels could be sufficient to ensure Russia's interests in the oceans, the institute's press service told TASS.
"We have been discussing the scientific fleet's composition and technical features to address the challenges facing marine science. Experts in ocean studies say about ten vessels of different displacement and specifications will be enough to ensure Russia's interests in the oceans," the press service said.
Those may be an Arc7-class scientific icebreaker with a displacement of about 9,000 tons that is capable of operating in the harsh ice conditions of the Arctic and Antarctic, two multifunctional large-tonnage research vessels, where prototypes could be the Akademik Sergey Vavilov and the Akademik Ioffe vessels, and several medium-tonnage and low-tonnage scientific vessels, including for the Caspian and Black Seas. The latter are extremely important for studies in the shallow Caspian Sea, the institute said.
Earlier, the institute and the design bureau inked an agreement on design, building and upgrade of research vessels. Developing hydrocarbon, rare earth and biological resources of the world's oceans, in accordance with international law, requires environmental research to ensure the rational use of mineral and biological resources and the protection of marine ecosystems.
"We need to conduct regular research in the Arctic, Antarctic and other areas of the World Ocean to preserve the right to use these resources in the future. To predict effects of climate change, it is critically important to conduct regular research in various parts of the World Ocean, since the ocean is the "kitchen" of the planetary and regional climate. The average age of our scientific vessels is 38 years, and maintaining the aging fleet is necessary, however it becomes more complicated every year due to the global political situation and it requires more and more financial investments. Therefore, in order to meet direct state tasks, in particular, to continue scientific activities in the World Ocean, the building of a modern scientific fleet is a priority in the medium term," the press service quoted the institute's Deputy Director for Fleet Vyacheslav Kremenetsky as saying.