Housed in a former thermal power station, the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology spotlights Taiwan’s fisheries development and the wonders of the deep.
The National Museum of Marine Science and Technology (NMMST) in the northern port city of Keelung is one of Taiwan’s foremost educational and family attractions. Since officially opening in January 2014, it has drawn more than 8.3 million visitors, ranking as the country’s third most popular national museum after National Palace Museum in Taipei City and the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung City, central Taiwan.
Located on a stunning 49-hectare coastal site, NMMST hosts three large-scale exhibition areas, an administrative center, laboratories, and small parks and trails spotlighting the local ecosystem and environment. The Main Exhibition Building has eight galleries on topics ranging from fisheries science and ship construction to marine life and conservation. Adapted from a thermal power plant that served northern Taiwan between 1939 and 1983, the structure has won considerable praise at home and abroad, earning architect Lin Jou-min (林洲民) the Urban Design Honor Award from the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architecture in 2013.
Near the main building is the 300-seat IMAX Theater. Equipped with state-of-the-art audio and 3-D projection systems, it features a unique oceanic design and plays captivating educational films on subjects like great white sharks. Opened in June 2012, the third primary exhibition site, the Regional Exploration Building, offers information about attractions along Taiwan’s northern coast and includes a wax figure gallery highlighting traditional fishing practices formerly used at Badouzi port, located just a few steps away from the building.
Visitors to NMMST find few aquariums with live marine creatures. Instead, they gain an in-depth understanding of humankind’s relationship with the sea.
—by Jim Hwang
The museum's Main Exhibition Building is adapted from a decommissioned thermal power plant.
The Marine Science Gallery in the Main Exhibition Building features digital and interactive displays and scale models on ocean life and technology.
Animated videos and specimens at the Deep Sea Theater in the Main Exhibition Building showcase the diversity of marine life and environment.
The People and the Sea Gallery highlights cultual practices and religious beliefs related to the sea.
The Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering Gallery comprises exhibitions on marine transportation technology and underwater engineering.
Glass tubes at the Marine Science Gallery spotlight variations in pressure, salt concentration and temperature at different sea depths.
Exhibits in the Regional Exploration Building show what life was like in years past in Badouzi, a fishing port located just outside the structure.
Cardboard fishmonger A-wan offers visitors the catch of the day in the Fishery Science Gallery.
A scale model of the Free China junk, which departed from Keelung April 4, 1955, and arrived in San Francisco after 114 days at sea
NMMST is a popular destination for family outings and school trips.
A corner of the Fishery Science Gallery is designed to resemble the seabed.