QINGYAN HAISHI 1, a test mothership constructed by Tsinghua University Shenzhen International Graduate School, and the first ship built in Shenzhen for scientific experiments, was put into use Sunday, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

The vessel is the first mothership owned by Shenzhen and Tsinghua University that serves scientific research and technological development.

Designed in 2016 and built by Tongfang Jiangxin Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., the vessel is 49.8 meters long, 13 meters wide and 4.4 meters deep. It was designed with loaded displacement of nearly 1,000 tons and a speed of 11 knots.

On Oct. 29, 2018, Qingyan Haishi 1 completed part of a navigation test project in the Jiujiang section of Yangtze River. The vessel’s test speed, equipment performance, noise, vibration and harshness all met the design requirements.

The mothership carried out sea tests in Shanwei City, Guangdong Province, between Nov. 12 and 13, 2018. From April 28 to 30 this year, the ship successfully completed its first scientific test voyage in the Pearl River estuary.

Next, the vessel will carry out dynamic testing, and chemical and biological tests of marine engineering equipment and structure in complex marine environments. It will also carry out noise and vibration analysis of ships and offshore platforms, and hydrodynamic verification and structural safety tests on deepwater wind turbine prototypes, and serve as an experimental carrier for the layout and recovery of marine equipment for various types of ships.

According to the Daily, the service of the vessel is expected to vigorously open up the research fields in marine science in Shenzhen and provide marine testing services for the R&D of new technologies and equipment for marine companies.

Additionally, one of the main tasks of Qingyan Haishi 1 is to serve the city’s marine equipment test site.

Located in the sea area off Guiling Island of Shanwei, the marine test site is a key infrastructure for the development of new marine engineering technologies and can carry out long-term reliability tests on marine equipment in the face of typhoons.

(Zhang Yu)