Research vessel support for the Navy-funded cruises on UAFs Research Vessel SIKULIAQ during CY 2016
Abstract
Research vessel support for the Navy-funded cruises on UAF~##s Research Vessel SIKULIAQ during CY 2016Funds are provided to the University of Alaska Fairbanks for ship time support of Navy oceanographic research projects in 2016. SIKULIAQ will provide cruise support for work in the Arctic Ocean. This proposal request is for funding UAF ship operations for one Office of Naval Research cruise on the R/V Sikuliaq in the 2016 calendar year with operations in the arctic. The day rate for the ship is all-inclusive and includes the Marine Technician costs who will help facilitate shore-side and at-sea logistics as well as function as the primary operator of any vessel-supplied oceanographic instrumentation. The ship is scheduled to operate on a 24 hour a day schedule while at sea. The vessel was last inspected by Jamestown Marine Services NSF inspection team in September 2014 and was ultimately declared to be in compliance with required standards. The R/V Sikuliaq, pronounced [see-KOO-lee-auk], is a 261-foot oceanographic research ship capable of bringing scientists to the ice-choked waters of Alaska and the Polar Regions. The Sikuliaq, one of the most advanced university research vessels in the world, is able to break ice up to 2.5 feet thick. Constructed at Marinette Marine Corporation, a shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin, the Sikuliaq is home ported in Alaska, at UAF s Seward Marine Center in Seward Alaska. The vessel is owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, as part of the U.S. academic research fleet. It is used by scientists in the U.S. and international oceanographic community through the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System. Marine scientists in the U.S. first expressed the need for this vessel in 1973. After 36 years of development and the consideration of multiple vessel designs, construction began on the ship in December 2009. The Glosten Associates, a marine architecture and engineering firm in Seattle, designed the vessel in 2004. The R/V Sikuliaq allows researchers to collect sediment samples directly from the seafloor, host remotely operated vehicles, use a flexible suite of winches to raise and lower scientific equipment, and conduct surveys throughout the water column and sea bottom using an extensive set of research instrumentation. The vessel design strives to have the lowest possible environmental impact, including a low underwater-radiated noise signature for marine mammal and fisheries work. The Sikuliaq has accommodations for up to 26 scientists and students at a time, including those with disabilities. University of Alaska Fairbanks, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Seward Marine Center (SFOS/SMC) has successfully operated the R/V Sikuliaq since the cooperative agreement was signed on August 1, 2014. The Seward Marine Center is located on the Kenai Peninsula at the head of Resurrection Bay, Alaska and has the distinction of being the northernmost ice-free port in Alaska. With its extensive railway and trucking network Seward is uniquely suited for the staging of Arctic operations. The Sikuliaq will serve scientists from institutions around the world as well as University of Alaska Fairbanks. During 2016, the R/V Sikuliaq will provide ship time for several research and marine science educational programs funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). This funding request is for support of Dr. Mohsen Badiey’s, Shelf-Basin Acoustics, Noise, and Oceanography
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 23, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141612947
Entities
People
- Murray B. Stein
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Alaska Fairbanks