Turkey's first domestically manufactured research vessel, “TÜBİTAK Marmara,” was launched on Sunday at a ceremony held at Tuzla Shipyard in İstanbul. Science, Industry and Technology Minister Nihat Ergün, Development Minister Cevdet Yılmaz, İstanbul Mayor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu were in attendance at the ceremony. During his speech, Ergün said although Turkey is surrounded by water the country has so far been unable to use this unique advantage to improve maritime research. The vessel which was built by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) will be used to conduct scientific research. The ship that is expected to begin serving in May will also be used for oil and gas exploration as well as cleaning the waters, observing pipelines and ecological living areas in the water and for search and rescue. If more research tools are added, the ship could also be used in different and more advanced areas of study. The vessel is envisioned to make major contributions to maritime research and with this regard; a maritime research center will also be established in Gebze. “We must move forward from now as we discover our potential. Turkey is also one of the top ship makers in the world and now looking to build its submarines as well. We are focused on becoming more advanced but we need to first ask if we have enough information,” said Ergün said. “We accept that the maritime research in the country is inadequate, however, we are determined to make changes. We have already started manufacturing equipment to build submarines.” Meanhile, Minister Yılmaz noted the valuable contribution of research to the development of nations stating, “We need to produce knowledge-based methods and systems that are valuable, and which will contribute to the development of the country. Ten years ago, the government budget for research and development was TL 114 million, but now has increased to TL 1.9 billion in 2013. As many countries are reducing money spent on research due to the financial slowdown, we, on the contrary, are improving our resources.” The vessel which is 9.5 meters wide and 41.2 meters high will be in service with 11 scientists and 12 crew members and could conduct research in waters as much as 3,000 meters deep. It was built at the Çeksan Shipyard. Çeksan Shipyard CEO Başaran Bayraktar provided further information on the vessel. He said, “TÜBİTAK Marmara is domestically designed. Surely, we imported most of the inside equipment because it is better to use most advanced equipment. But we certainly do not have to import all the equipment as 60 percent of the items used in production were made domestically. With this, it must be clear that Turkish shipbuilders have the capacity to build research ships.” (Today’s zaman)