The signing ceremony between Ningbo Ouya Pelagic Fishery Co and Wuhan Ship Development & Design Institute on building a vessel for catching and processing Antarctic krill [Photo/zj.zjol.com]

Ningbo Ouya Pelagic Fishery Co in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province recently inked an agreement with Wuhan Ship Development & Design Institute to build a vessel for catching and processing Antarctic krill, which can be found in the Southern Ocean.

The vessel, worth 650 million yuan ($96.88 million), will be the first Antarctic krill fishing and processing vessel independently developed by a Chinese company.

Designed to be equipped with advanced fishing systems and modern and intelligent production facilities, it will have a capacity of capturing 80,000 metric tons of krill a year and processing 800 tons a day, making it the nation's largest and most advanced vessel of its kind.

Zhu Haiyong, deputy chief engineer of the institute, claimed that they are the nation's only institute to hold the key technologies of building the ship, but it is the first time that they have applied them in a systematic way. 

It is hoped that the vessel will enhance the nation's capacity in Antarctic krill fishing and processing, promote the upgrading of its marine fishery and strengthen its resource exploration in the ocean and polar regions.

"We aim to fetch more international resources to ensure enough raw materials for domestic processing companies," said Jiang Caiguo, president of Ningbo Ouya Pelagic Fishery Co, adding that another vessel of this kind is on the agenda.