A groundbreaking new sea simulator will recreate human impacts on marine conditions in a bid to better understand urgent challenges such as the starfish plague and bleaching that has ravaged the Great Barrier Reef.

The National Sea Simulator, or SeaSim, was unveiled by science minister Kim Carr in Townsville on Thursday. The federal government has spent $37m developing the Australian Institute of Marine Science-run facility, which will also be made available to the private sector.

SeaSim will contain 3m litres of filtered seawater across 33 tanks containing corals and other small marine life, such as sponges. The facility will allow AIMS researchers to precisely control variables such as light, temperature and water salinity to judge their impact on marine ecosystems. The simulator will even allow scientists to increase or decrease the amount of carbon dioxide in the water, mimicking the effect of climate change. One of the first experiments at SeaSim will be an analysis of how sediment from dredging affects marine life – an issue that has been hotly debated following controversial dredging of the seabed at Gladstone Harbour.

SeaSim will also closely study the crown-of-thorns starfish, which has been blamed for devouring large tracts of the Great Barrier Reef. The Reef has lost half of its coral cover in the past 27 years , with the UN recently warning that the government needed to do more to protect the vast ecosystem.

"Ultimately, we want to see the results of our work become fundamentally important to the future decisions made about the sustainable use of the Great Barrier Reef," said Dr Jamie Oliver, research director of AIMS.

"The loss of coral and the outbreak of starfish is a great worry, as is the impact of climate change, so there's a real immediacy to get this centre into commission and get some answers.

"We do have a knowledge shortfall in some areas. We are uncertain about how corals are adapting to things like ocean acidification and sediment. It's hard to test that in the field, so this facility will allow precisely controlled experiments. "This is the first comprehensive large-sized marine research centre in the world. We can do long-term experiments for months or years, alongside each other, to better understand the effects of development, dredging and climate change." Carr told Guardian Australia that the government considers the centre "the best in the world. "It will research climate change, pest management, sediment in pollution and the capacity for new technologies," he said. "It will mean we can manage economic resources more effectively and assist coastal communities. "Marine industries contribute $42bn to the national economy and we think that'll increase to $100bn by 2025, so there's a massive economic and social imperative there. "We have the largest marine territory in the world, an area that is larger than our land territory. It's incredibly important that we invest in research into this area."