South Korea completes ocean-floor exploration vessel ”Tankai-3,” equipped with cutting-edge equipment to conduct ocean-floor resource surveys

On May 31, the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources held the “Launching Ceremony for the Cutting-Edge 3D/4D Geophysical Exploration Research Vessel ‘Danghae 3’” in Yeongil Bay, Pohang.
The "Exploratory 3" is a 6,862-ton geophysical survey vessel capable of exploring the ocean floor resources in any area of the world, including the continental shelf, oceans, and polar regions.
The 800 million won (approximately 19.1 billion yen) project passed the preliminary survey in 2016. In January 2021, the company signed a contract with major shipbuilding company HJ Heavy Industries (formerly Hanjin Suzhou) for the design and construction of the ship.
The vessel was built. It will be launched, named, and undergo trial operation in July 2023. Compared to the existing vessel No. 2, the "Tankai No. 3" has eight times the size of the streamer that receives elastic waves, and an air filter that generates pressure waves.
The gun system has been expanded by 1.5 times. In particular, 400 Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBN) that record waves on the seafloor are installed. The exploration range using elastic waves is being expanded.
The probe will also be equipped with a control function, enabling it to explore in harsh environments such as the ocean and polar regions. In the future, the probe will be used to explore for oil and gas resources on Korea's continental shelf, and for the capture and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2).
The first exploration will begin in June in the Gunsan Basin in the West Sea. The plan is to search for promising CO2 storage sites on the seabed.