Mexico City, Sep 8 (IANS/EFE) Spanish shipmaker Astilleros Armon Vigo is building Mexico's first deep-water fisheries and oceanographic research vessel at a cost of roughly 460 million pesos ($35 million), an official said.
The ship will be used to conduct research in the country's territorial waters with the aim of identifying new fisheries, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Mayorga said.
He made the announcement during a ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of the National Fisheries Institute, or INAPESCA.
The research ship, Mayorga said, will allow new fisheries to be detected with the goal of increasing the availability of seafood products by more than 40 percent.
INAPESCA spokespersons said that Astilleros Armon Vigo has already begun building the vessel in Spain and expects to deliver the finished product in late 2013.
The ship will be used in Mexico's more than 2.1 million sq. km of territorial waters in the Pacific.
Mexico launched an international bidding round this year for the project and Astilleros Armon Vigo emerged as the winner.
The ship will have the capacity to transport up to 20 researchers in addition to the vessel's crew. It will have a displacement of up to 2,500 tonnes and travel at a velocity of 14 knots.
The vessel will be equipped with powerful motors, modern navigation equipment, a satellite system, platforms and derricks and a lighting system, among other features.
--IANS/EFE
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