Tan Suo San Hao

Tan Suo San Hao is a Chinese icebreaking research vessel operated by the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The vessel entered service in December 2024.
Concurrently with Tan Suo San Hao, Guangzhou Shipyard International built a slightly smaller Polar Class 6 research vessel, Ji Di, which entered service in June 2024.

Design

Tan Suo San Hao measures in length overall and in beam, draws of water, and displaces. The vessel has a multidisciplinary scientific outfit with accommodation for 32 crew and up to 48 scientists as well as ability to deploy China's deep-sea research submersibles Striver, Deep Sea Warrior, and Jiaolong. A moon pool allows deploying and recovering autonomous underwater vehicles in ice-covered waters.
Tan Suo San Haos diesel-electric propulsion system consists of four six-cylinder Wärtsilä 6L32 main diesel generators that power the ship's two ABB Azipod DI1400 azimuth thrusters. This will give the vessel a maximum speed of in open water and enables it to break level ice with a snow cover at a continuous speed of in both ahead and astern directions.
Tan Suo San Hao is built to Polar Class 4, an ice class intended for year-round operation in thick first-year ice which may contain small inclusions of old sea ice that has survived at least one melting season without melting completely.

Tan Suo San Hao is claimed to be the first research vessel of its kind developed indigenously in China. The ¥800 million ship has been jointly funded by the People's Government of Hainan, Sanya Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City, and the vessel's operator, Institute of Deep Sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The construction of the vessel began with a steel cutting ceremony at Guangzhou Shipyard International, a subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, on 25 June 2023. The vessel, named Tan Suo San Hao, was floated out on 20 April 2024. The vessel completed the final series of sea trials in October 2024.

Tan Suo San Hao was delivered on 26 December 2024.