Maria S. Merian is part of a project funded by the Ministry of Education and Research in Berlin and Germany's four federal coastal states - Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig Holstein and Mecklenburg Vorpommern.

The 94.8m long and 19.2m-wide vessel draws a maximum 6.5m on 1,345dwt. Diesel-electric powered by two 1900kW pod drives and a 1600kW pumpjet, her sophisticated equipment includes a new hull-mounted Parasound DS-3 parametric multibeam sub-bottom profiling and bathymetric survey system.

It is the first of a new series of units from Atlas Hydrographic and provides bottom penetration in excess of 200m. A second of the new DS-3 systems, incidentally, has been ordered for another German research ship, the double-hulled polar icebreaker Polarestern .

Maria S Merian has a service radius of 7,500 nautical miles and can operate independently for 35 days with a crew of 20 and an additional complement of 20 scientists. She has a stern A-Frame of 200kN, three main 50kN cranes, two auxiliary crane units each of 15kN and an impressive range of winch equipment.

The newbuilding joins a pool of medium-sized research ships which have served in Germany and which include or have included the 64.2m long A von Humboldt , the 60.8m long Poseidon , the 55.2m long Alkor and the 55m long Heincke.