The first scientific ship built by private interests in China is still waiting for its first assignment after it launched last month near Wenling, in Zhejiang province, on the east coast, according to Chinese media reports.

The 82 metre-long (269-foot), 3,500-tonne Haiying Jiake research vessel was built with 150 million yuan (US$22 million) raised by 37 Zhejiang fishermen.

It is designed to operate anywhere in the world’s oceans, including in thin sea ice, and support research ranging from seabed mapping to deep-sea biological and geological surveys.

But as of mid-June, the vessel had yet to secure its first contract, Cai Yunjie, the 51-year-old former fisherman who spearheaded the project, told state-owned Science and Technology Daily. “We still do not have a clear plan for how the ship will make money.”

Chen Jiawang, deputy director of the East China Sea Laboratory, said in the same report that operating costs for the Haiying Jiake amounted to hundreds of thousands of yuan a day, with annual maintenance and operating expenses exceeding 10 million yuan.

According to the report, the fundamental challenge is that China has little established market for privately owned research vessels. Instead, most belong to universities and government research institutes, with their operating costs covered by public funding.