She was built in 1985 in the Gdańsk Shipyard in Poland, after the design of Zygmunt Choreń. The hull was based on plans of earlier tall ships: ORP Iskra II and Pogoria, but its rigging was different. Oceania was originally a full-rigged ship, with three masts (each 32 metres high). On every mast there was only one sail, in the shape of a vertical rectangle (sometimes Oceania was classified as a frigate), but later the yards and the sail from the mizzen-mast were removed. Sails are raised and driven hydraulically.
The ship is equipped with laboratories able to provide hydrographic, optic, acoustic, chemical, biological and particulate experiments and observations.