Research and Training Vessel News Roundup | July 19 – Chinese ocean science ships, US mapping vessels plus Russian and Norwegian workboats

A Russian operator takes delivery of a river and port survey vessel while a Norwegian university is set to acquire a compact workboat. A Chinese yard launches an ocean science and environmental monitoring ship. Finally, the NOAA places orders for new charting and mapping vessels.

Russian survey specialist acquires new shallow-draught workboat

Photo: Rosmorrechflot

Russian shipyard Nefteflot has delivered a new shallow-draught survey boat to compatriot operator Rechvodput.

Stovr belongs to the eight-strong Project RDB 66.62 series of vessels designed for performing surveys of both inland and port waters.

The newbuild has a length of 24.31 metres, a beam of 5.76 metres, a draught of only 0.93 metres, a depth of 2.2 metres, space for a small tender, and accommodations for seven personnel including crew and survey technicians. The survey equipment on each boat is fully automated and includes a multi-beam echosounder and hydrographic data processing software.

Design work on the boats was done by local engineering firm Stapel in compliance to Russian Maritime Register of Shipping and Russian River Register ice 20 rules.

Chinese yard floats out new geological science vessel

Photo: China Classification Society

China’s Tongfangjiang New Shipbuilding Company has floated out a new ocean geological survey vessel ordered by a local operator.

Once completed, Haiyang Dizhi 17 (“Marine Geology 17”) will have an LOA of 49.5 metres, a beam of 12 metres, and accommodations for 34 people. The propulsion will deliver a maximum speed of 12 knots and a range of 2,500 nautical miles.

Other duties will include geological drilling and sampling and marine environmental protection.

The vessel is being built in compliance to China Classification Society rules.

NOAA places orders for two new research ships

The charting and mapping vessel NOAAS Fairweather (Photo: NOAA)

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded Louisiana-based Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors a US$624.6 million contract for the construction of two new research vessels.

The contract also includes options for two additional vessels. The two firm vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2027 and 2028.

The ships will focus primarily on ocean mapping and nautical charting as part of NOAA’s mission to deliver tools and information to help mariners safely navigate US ports and harbours.

The new vessels will have additional capabilities to help assess and manage living marine resources and collect data for oceanographic monitoring, research, and modeling activities.

The ships will be designed to coordinate, acquire and process large data sets like those gathered from mapping the seafloor and characterizing marine habitats. They will also have the ability to deploy crewed survey workboats, scientific equipment, and uncrewed systems.

Norway’s Nord University acquires 15-metre workboat

Photo: ProZero

Nord University in Norway will soon take delivery of a new 15-metre workboat built by a Danish shipyard.
The workboat will be operated out of Nord University’s campus in Bodø for marine and fisheries sciences purposes.

Equipment will include winches and cranes to handle water and seabed samples. The interior layout will meanwhile be ergonomically designed.


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