The Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research's (Nederlands Instituut voor Zeeonderzoek; NIOZ) newest research vessel was formally named in a ceremony on Thursday, March 12.
Anna Weber-van Bosse was christened by Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, who attended Thursday's ceremony as guest of honour.
The vessel will be used to support research in a broad range of fields including biology, geology, physical oceanography, and even maritime archaeology. She can even be used for positioning of underwater data-gathering equipment.
Anna Weber-van Bosse was built by Spain's Armon Shipyard to a design by Netherlands-based C-Job Naval Architects. She was designed as a larger and more capable platform to replace Pelagia, a research vessel that has been in service with the NIOZ for 35 years.
The vessel is fitted with a DP2 system while her hull has a wave-piercing bow and has been strengthened to ice class 1C standard, which indicates safe navigation even at the edges of ice fields.
The vessel boasts a selection of laboratories including wet and dry labs; a CTD hangar; a hangar for remotely operated vehicles and autonomous underwater vehicles; a large working deck that can also accommodate unmanned aerial vehicles; an A-frame; and a drop keel and gondola that can house larger sensors, including those that the NIOZ said are still under development.
