Great Lakes Shipyard, Cleveland, Ohio, completed five-year overhaul work on the U.S. Geological Survey Research Vessel Sturgeon. Under a Fleet Maintenance Contract with the Great Lakes Science Center, Ann Arbor, MI of the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, the Sturgeon was drydocked and given a thorough cleaning, painting, inspection, repair and tune up. Some of the major work items included redesigning the hydraulic system, shaft and propulsion repairs, generator overhauls and steering system repairs. The 105 ft. long Sturgeon was built in 1974 and is home-ported in Cheboygan, MI. The Sturgeon is the Center's second largest vessel with great geographic range and advanced scientific abilities. The primary mission of the R/V Sturgeon is to support fisheries related science in Lake Michigan using state-of-the-art electronic technology and traditional sampling gear such as bottom and midwater trawls and gillnets. As the Nation's largest water, earth, and biological science and civilian mapping agency, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collects, monitors, analyzes, and provides scientific understanding about natural resource conditions, issues, and problems.
The Great Lakes Shipyard’s Order Book now includes orders for construction of two new 70-foot all aluminum research vessels for U.S. Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center, a 60 foot workboat for The Port of Milwaukee and a new 3,200 h.p. HandySize tugboat.