Russian ship to take scientists on voyage to study Vietnam's sea

Departing from Nha Trang, the ship will take 36 scientists and researchers, including 19 Vietnamese, around the East Sea, known internationally as the South China Sea, for a month.

This marks the eighth field trip conducted by the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) and Russian Academy of Sciences as part of the "Roadmap for cooperation in marine research for 2018-2025."

At the ceremony to welcome the ship on Wednesday, Chau Van Minh, chairman of VAST, praised scientific results from the previous trips, confirming that many young researchers from VAST had gained experiences from them.

Konstatin Mogilevsky, Russia’s deputy minister of Science and Higher Education, said he appreciated the cooperation between the two academies and cooperation in marine science had been effectively implemented.

Le Huu Hoang, deputy chairman of Khanh Hoa Province, home to Nha Trang, said in previous trips, scientists from the two countries had found "quality bioactive compounds" in Vietnam's marine environment.

He said that it was necessary to create conditions for international scientists to participate in research surveys in the East Sea as it would help promote Vietnam's marine science in the international arena.

According to VAST, during a previous trip in 2021, Russian and Vietnamese scientists added hundreds of samples of marine flora and fauna to Vietnam's marine biodiversity data, collected samples for analysis of chemical composition and evaluated potential use in medicine and pharmacy at depths of up to 150m in the East Sea.

The Akademik Oparin stretches 75.5 meters long and has 2,441 tonnage. The ship has five laboratories and is equipped with 30 crew members.