Ukraine plans to begin revival of research fleet of 36 ships

The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine will develop a large-scale program to revive Ukraine's research fleet of 36 ships.

"Today, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Shkarlet is present here. I expect him [to draft] a large-scale program to revive the research fleet of our state for the next 5-10 years. We suggest setting the bar high: 36 research vessels, 12 of them ocean-going, ice class," President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said during a meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Odesa, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to him, the Ukrainian research fleet had exactly 36 vessels at the time of the proclamation of the independence of Ukraine in 1991.

The President informed that previously acquired research icebreaker James Clark Ross would be handed over to Ukrainian scientists of the Aсademician Vernadsky station in Odesa today.

According to the President, Ukraine is among the world countries most active in space and Arctic research and now starts to return to the world ocean.

Most scientific discoveries in the 21st century are taking place the world ocean, and Ukraine needs to "build ships or buy ships until they are built", he added.

On August 19, 2021, the National Antarctic Scientific Center and the UK Research and Innovation (which includes the British Antarctic Survey) signed an act on Ukraine's purchase of icebreaker James Clark Ross.