Imagine a self-contained structure that provides food
and shelter for its inhabitants, treats waste,
houses systems to produce electricity and water,
and supports long journeys at sea.
A ship is a floating Marvel,
a feat of engineering in and of itself.
Now turn that ship into a platform for research,
and you have a floating laboratory
with tools and sensors that enable
us to probe into all realms of the ocean.
The Regional Class Research Vessels are
designed for the future of coastal science.
Designed for Science at Sea.
Anytime you're awarded a grant, you're very excited.
But there's also this realization that we have a big job
ahead and, and this particular project
with a 10-year scope.
We realized we had a lot to do and
we had a lot of pieces to put in place and people to hire.
It's at times been daunting,
but also very exciting.
Typically, NSF build boats like
every 15-20 years and they'll be around for 40 plus years.
So you have to be able to build something that
can be used for things you never imagined.
One of the biggest issues we have to deal
with is there's a lot of
different equipment that goes on board.
It affects what you end up
designing because you want to keep a lot of flexibility.
In a lot of ways building
a research trip is like buidling any other ship.
The RCRV is different in that we have
a very tight envelope to
build in terms of physical constraints.
And we have a lot more equipment
than what the typical ship
that this shipyard would build.
At almost 200 feet in length, with accommodation for
29 crew and scientists, for up to three weeks at sea.
The design of the regional class research vessels
is a feat of scientific vision,
advanced engineering,
and painstaking integration of systems.
RCRV is unique insofar as it
benefits from modernization of communication systems,
of control systems, of green technologies,
those that minimize environmental impact
of working in the ocean.
The ship's engines run at optimal speed to increase
fuel efficiency. And waste heat is
recouped to run auxiliary systems.
Ballast water is treated and sterilized
to prevent the spread of invasive species.
The bulbous bow and shape of the hull
improve the overall hydrodynamics of the vessel.
The propellers work with advanced navigation and
computer systems to provide dynamic positioning,
a kind of exact auto-piloting.
And the z-drives are designed to reduce
noise and enhance fuel economy.
We went with the variable speed generators,
which allows the electric plant to
operate at a very efficient point.
So there's less load on the generators a lot of
time and it really helps with the fuel savings.
We are using the highest level of
emissions ratings for engines.
So we've tried to incorporate
all those green type technologies
to the greatest extent possible in our ship.
Building each vessel takes
careful planning and precision.
Metal sheets are cut down to size and
fit together to form separate segments of the hull,
otherwise known as modules.
We have a couple of big modules
behind me and they're actually super modules.
So it's: module, welded to another module,
welded to another module.
And the super module of Vessel 1 will
be moved out today for blast-and-paint.
Several big transporters
will come underneath the ship,
pick it up, and then transport it out to the yard.
It's a really cool process and I'm excited to watch.
At any one point in time, we may have a 150 to 200 people
here working at the shipyard
as the modules of the ship get put together.
So it's a pretty diverse group
of tradesmen that build the ship.
There's been a handful of people from Oregon State University.
We've had some people from Glosten that were
helping to do the original model and design.
And then we have all these workers from
the shipyard who are actually putting the ship together.
This has really been a collaborative process of how
do build these shapes and how to make them for science.
It's awesome to come out here and see this,
and sometimes amazing how much progress is
made from when I was here in May or June to now.
The sheer expertise and dedication
required from all kinds of players -
engineers, technicians, project managers,
scientists - is what truly carried
this project from its inception is an idea,
a resounding call from
the US scientific community
to renew their academic research fleet.
And despite the recent challenges of a global pandemic,
new shipyard ownership and multiple hurricanes,
construction towards the successful delivery
of these ships is well underway.
This process started a long time ago
of really imagining
what these research vessels will be like.
And then moving more to the design phase.
And now we are in the stage
of actually putting steel together.
So after this stage,
we will have to put a lot of
the equipment in and we'll do harbor trials,
we'll do sea trials.
And we'll really have to make sure that these ships are
ready to go for
the scientists and the operating institutions.
What I love about the RCRV design is that
comprehensive capability being delivered
and what has traditionally been a larger package.
These smaller vessels will be more accessible to
more people to do studies in
the coastal environment they haven't
been able to do before.
I'm very proud to be part of this project.
It's very much a team effort.
There are a lot of talented people
that are working together.
We are entrusted by
the National Science Foundation with
this responsibility to serve the community.
And we'll have a research vessel
for probably another 30 to 40 years.