Research ship to test marine technologies will be launched in Vila Real de Santo António

20th April 2021

The ship “Mar Profundo”, developed to support the testing and validation of innovative technologies, will be launched next Wednesday (April 21, at 10 a.m.), at the NAUTIBER facilities, in Vila Real of Santo António. This research ship is part of TEC4SEA’s, a research infrastructure acknowledged by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), included in the Portuguese Roadmap of Research Infrastructures (RNIE).

Initially devised by NAUTIBER - Estaleiros Navais do Guadiana Lda., and equipped to support multidisciplinary research at sea, the “Mar Profundo” (one of a kind in Portugal) will enable the quick access to deep sea, thus reducing the costs associated with this type of endeavour.

“Thanks to this ship, TEC4SEA will be able to move multidisciplinary know-how and laboratory-logistical resources, from land to different locations of maritime operations. Therefore, it presents a new set of possibilities for the scientific and economic ecosystem, repositioning Portugal in this context”, said José Manuel Mendonça, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (INESC TEC), one of the founding entities and coordinator of TEC4SEA.

Manuel Heitor (MCTES), Helena Pereira, President of FCT, and José Apolinário, President of CCDR-Algarve, will attend the event, scheduled as follows:

10:00 – Opening session and presentation of TEC4SEA

10:20 – Visit to the ship

10:40 – Ship launching

The construction of the ship costed €869K, supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Norte’s Regional Operational Programme, as well as by FCT, through national funds.

About TEC4SEA

TEC4SEA is a innovative platform at European level, dedicated to the research, development, testing and validation of technologies to improve Sea Economy. In this sense, it encompasses a vast and multidisciplinary set of skills, laboratories, testbeds, equipment and facilities to support R&D activities, experiments and validations - now including “Mar Profundo”. TEC4SEA operates in the fields of robotics (autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles), communications and advanced sensing. It is an open infrastructure, dedicated to support and welcome the scientific community and the industrial fabric - national or European -, towards the development of maritime technology, in order to explore the sea, its living and non-living resources, while boosting Sea Economy. INESC TEC and the Algarve Technological Research Center (CINTAL) are the founding entities of TEC4SEA.

Porto - April 20, 2021

For further inquiries:

Eunice Oliveira

Communication Service

INESC TEC

FEUP Campus

Rua Dr Roberto Frias

4200-465 Porto

Portugal

M +351 934 224 331

eunice.i.oliveira@inesctec.pt