STATE-OF-THE-ART RESEARCH VESSEL

[Anchor Lead]

Although water accounts for 70 percent of the Earth's surface, only 5 percent of the water surface has been explored by humanity thus far. Many industrialized nations are investing heavily in maritime exploration. Korea has belatedly decided to build a state-of-the-art research vessel of its own.

[Pkg]

Tamhae 2. The first and only South Korean geophysical research vessel. Built in 1996, it has been deployed for maritime exploration around the Korean Peninsula for more than two decades. In 2007, it discovered a pool of gas hydrate in the sea off Ulleungdo Island. But the vessel can only navigate waters off the peninsula and its equipment is too outdated. As global competition for maritime exploration intensifies, the Korean government decided to build an advanced research vessel. Weighing 6000 tons, the new ship has been tentatively named Tamhae 3. Its biggest advantage: the exploration scope. Not only can it navigate oceans worldwide, it can also travel all the way to the polar regions. Its area and depth of exploration are also more than double that of its predecessor. The new vessel is equipped with 4D devices for detecting changes in underwater topography.

[Soundbite] KIM JIN-HO(KOREA INSTITUTE OF GEOSCIENCE AND MINERAL RESOURCES) : "The existing vessel was like a doctor who diagnoses diseases by taking X-ray images, whereas the new vessel can get CT images."

It will likely be used to explore natural resources, monitor changes in greenhouse gases in the ocean, and survey faults.

[Soundbite] LEE SANG-MOOK(PROF., SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY) : "It's a milestone as Korea takes initial steps in global resource exploration. The new vessel can detect natural disasters as well, it would be great to have it used to study natural disasters."

The Tamhae 3 is expected to begin global operations in 2024 after being built and tested.