"Deep Sea" is the first marine laboratory entirely built in Portugal

The "Deep Sea" ship, the first vessel entirely built in Portugal to support multidisciplinary research at sea, loosened its moorings and was launched to sea on April 21st.

The launch took place at the facilities of NAUTIBER - Estaleiros Navais do Guadiana Lda. in Vila Real de Santo António, where the vessel was designed from scratch. This ship will allow rapid access to the deep sea and will support the testing and validation of innovative technologies for maritime use, reducing the traditional costs of this type of mission. 

The "Deep Sea" is one of the equipment of TEC4SEA, a research infrastructure funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), included in the National Roadmap of Research Infrastructures of Strategic Interest (RNIE), which is a pioneering platform at the European level dedicated to research, development, testing and validation of technologies to enhance the Economy of the Sea, and operates mainly in the areas of robotics testing (autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles), communications and advanced sensing.

This maritime laboratory represents an investment of 869 thousand Euros. Its construction was financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Regional Operational Program of the North, and by FCT, through national funds.