China's first unmanned intelligent marine research mothership is currently being built to specifications of the Southern Marine Science & Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai) at the Sun Yat-sen University campus.

The laboratory and CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding signed the design and construction contract at the end of last year and Wenchong began constructing it in Guangzhou on July 20. Delivery is expected next year. It is seen as the first scientific expedition vessel to be remotely controlled or navigated autonomously in open water.

Professor Chen Dake of the State Oceanic Administration and director of the laboratory calls it "a beautiful, new marine species" that will revolutionize how the ocean is observed. The design embraces concepts of "sense of future," "unmanned system," and "green and intelligent."

Rendering of unmanned intelligent mothership [Photo courtesy Southern Marine Science & Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai)]

The vessel will have a displacement of 2,000 tons and maximum speed of 18 knots. It is 88.5 m (290 ft) long, 14 m (46 ft) wide, and 6.1 m (20 ft) deep, has a draft of 3.7 m (12 ft), and class symbol notation of i-ship (No, R1, M, I) in accordance with the CCS Rules for Intelligent Ships.

The deck will accommodate a dozen air, sea, and submarine unmanned systems that can be deployed on a massive-scale to form an automatic task-oriented adaptive network for stereoscopic dynamic observation.

It will provide water surface support for the world's first Intelligent Mobile Ocean Stereo Observing System (IMOSOS), which was developed by the laboratory in Tangjiawan. The system for marine disaster prevention and mitigation, submarine fine mapping, marine environment monitoring, and offshore wind farm maintenance will also provide comprehensive and precise information for regional socioeconomic development and national marine development.

Fan Lei, chief builder at Wenchong, said the vessel will have a high domestication rate in terms of key equipment, as the power, propulsion, "intelligent," and survey and operation support systems are all domestically made with independent core technology.

In late June, China's largest comprehensive scientific expedition internship vessel, the Zhong Shan Da Xue, was delivered to the Sun Yat-sen University campus. That vessel has a displacement of 6,880 tons and sailing endurance of 15,000 nautical miles.