Boatbuilder Vita Power has handed over a new electric rigid inflatable boat (RIB) to the Freshwater Research and Innovation Center (FRIC), a research facility in Traverse City, Michigan.
The RIB will be FRIC's research and training vessel, operating from Discovery Pier on West Grand Traverse Bay, where the facility is now under construction.
The 24-foot (7.3-metre) vessel arrived at Discovery Pier Marina earlier this month and is now operating from the dock, where it charges using pierside infrastructure at the marina.
The RIB will be the centre’s on-water platform for hands-on workforce training, freshwater research and the testing and demonstration of new technologies in real Great Lakes conditions. It will be paired with an Outland Technology remotely operated vehicle (ROV) so the centre can carry out inspection, sampling and sensor work both on and below the surface.
The RIB's open-deck layout gives researchers and dive teams a clear working platform while the centre console leaves space fore and aft for sampling gear, dive equipment and ROV launch and recovery.
