On January 26, 2015, at the annual Goed Geld Gala (Good Money Gala)[3] in Amsterdam, Sea Shepherd received a donation of €8.3 million ($9.4 million) from the Nationale Postcode Loterij in the Netherlands,[4] to purchase a new vessel for Sea Shepherd's submitted dream project "Stop Illegal Fishing in the Southern Ocean".

The vessel was custom-built by Dutch ship builder Damen Group in Turkey,[5] with a final cost of $12 million.

[6] This custom-built ship is a Damen Stan patrol vessel 50 m long and 9 m wide.

She was laid down in 2015 and was launched at the shipyards of Damen Group in Antalya Turkey on 1 July 2016.

[7] Ocean Warrior has four engines, additional long-range fuel tanks, and a helicopter landing pad.