TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Work officially started Wednesday (Sept. 29) on the first-ever Taiwan-built fishing training ship conforming to international standards, with the project scheduled to be completed in 2023.

Because its two predecessors have been in service for more than 30 years, the government decided to spend NT$840 million (US$30.2 million) on replacements, including the No. 3 Yu Shiun, the Liberty Times reported. The new 2,200-ton vessel will be 78.4 meters long, 15 m wide, and carry a maximum of 86 people.

The ship can take the trainees to the world’s three major oceans as well as to areas near Taiwan and Japan, the report said. Lung Teh Shipbuilding Co., which is building the training vessel in Suao, Yilan County, has also won a contract for a 450-ton patrol boat worth NT$430 million from the Fisheries Agency, a unit of the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture (COA).