National Science Foundation News

Blake Powell, president at JMS Naval Architects, discusses his career, company and latest trends in naval architecture and marine engineering.Please give a brief professional bio, including education, experience and overview of current duties as president of JMS Naval Architects.I earned my degree in Naval Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley where I attended on a Navy ROTC scholarship and was commissioned as a Diving and Salvage Officer after I graduated.

The U.S.' National Science Foundation (NSF) has released a draft request for proposal (RFP) for its Antarctic Research Vessel (ARV) Integrator requirement.According to NSF, the draft represents a functionally complete RFP with sections A through M, released to provide transparency and early exposure for what is a robust requirement.NSF said it seeks feedback from industry on the whole of the RFP, be that technical or contractual requirements, instructions to offerors and evaluation criteria, or small business engagement.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) crew and embarked researchers ventured onto a floe of multi-year ice for the first of three multi-instrument ice stations in the Arctic Ocean Basin late July and early August.As the Healy carefully approached and maintained position alongside an ice floe above 77 degrees north, the crew and a team of scientists, working in cooperation with the Office of Naval Research, (ONR) offloaded a diverse collection of equipment on to the floe carefully…

The first of three new oceanographic research vessels dedicated to advancing marine science along U.S. coasts was successfully launched Thursday.The ship, R/V Taani, is being constructed as part of a project, led by Oregon State University (OSU) and funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), to provide scientists with valuable new tools to study critical issues such as rapidly changing ocean conditions and human impacts on the marine environment.The Regional Class Research Vessel project…

The EnerGeo Alliance has sent a letter to New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy and Assemblyman Christopher Tully, Chairman of the state’s Committee on Science, Innovation and Technology in advance of the Assembly’s hearing on marine mammal deaths scheduled for Thursday May 18, 2023.There have been at least 11 whales that have washed up dead along New Jersey's coastline since December 5, prompting concern that they are related to offshore wind development in the region.The Alliance…

Lockport, La. based Bollinger Shipyards announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Pascagoula, Miss. shipbuilder VT Halter Marine, Inc. and neighboring repair yard ST Engineering Halter Marine Offshore (STEHMO) from parent company ST Engineering North America, the U.S. subsidiary of Singaporean multinational technology, defense and engineering group ST Engineering.The transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022, is said to be worth $15 million, according to ST Engineering.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) reached the North Pole Friday after traversing the frozen Arctic Ocean, marking only the second time a U.S. ship has reached the location unaccompanied, the first being Healy in 2015.Healy, a medium icebreaker, and crew departed Dutch Harbor, Alaska, Sept. 4, beginning their journey to reach latitude 90 degrees north. The cutter and crew supported oceanographic research in collaboration with National Science Foundation-funded scientists…

The 157 crewmembers of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB 10) arrived at McMurdo Station in Antarctica Monday following an 86-day transit from the United States and the cutter’s departure from its Seattle homeport Nov. 13.This deployment marks the Polar Star’s 25th journey to Antarctica supporting Operation Deep Freeze, an annual joint military service mission to resupply the United States Antarctic stations in support of the National Science Foundation, lead agency for the United States Antarctic Program.Each year…

Sea ice predictions have improved markedly since the founding of an international forecasting and monitoring network 14 years ago.“These forecasts are quite encouraging in their increasing accuracy,” said Uma Bhatt, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. Bhatt spoke about the Sea Ice Prediction Network at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting last month.As the amount of sea ice in the Arctic declines, thins and becomes more mobile…

The research vessel Sikuliaq navigated among and around the chunks and slabs of Arctic sea ice above Alaska for several weeks on two voyages this fall, breaking through frozen slabs when it had to, just as its sturdy hull is designed to do. It's now on a third trip.The Sikuliaq, a 261-ft. ice-capable research vessel operated by UAF, pauses in the Arctic Ocean in June 2021 during its fifth year of operation. A few months later, it traveled farther north than ever before — almost 500 miles beyond Point Barrow.Satellite imagery produced at the Geographic Information Network of Alaska…

The Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding trains shipbuilders and leaders to build some of the highest value maritime assets on the planet: U.S. Navy ships. Dr. Latitia McCane, Director of Education, The Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding discusses the challenges and rewards of the job.While most shipbuilders lament the dearth of interest from the next generation to take up a career in shipbuilding, Dr. Latitia McCane, Director of Education, The Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding has the opposite problem…

The National Science Foundation’s new Regional Class Research Vessel that will soon call the University of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay Campus home has a name: Narragansett Dawn.Graduate School of Oceanography Dean Paula S. Bontempi announced the name of the new $125 million vessel after a nationwide competition and approval from the NSF.“Narragansett Dawn acknowledges the Indigenous peoples’ histories, ancestors, and perseverance in our communities today,” said URI President David M. Dooley.

Norwegian offshore vessel operator Siem Offshore has hired Oslo-based TMC Compressors (TMC) to deliver a new marine compressed air system to be retrofitted onboard the JOIDES Resolution research vessel.Former drillship JOIDES Resolution is a research vessel that drills into the ocean floor to collect and study core samples, to help scientists better understand climate change, geology, and Earth’s history.For this research vessel, TMC will supply a complete marine compressed air…

Lockport, La.-based Bollinger Shipyards has acquired Gulf Island Fabrication’s shipyard facilities in nearby Houma for approximately $28.6 million.The purchased site encompasses 437 acres on the west bank of the Houma Navigation Canal, of which 283 acres is unimproved land that is available for expansion. The facility includes 18,000 square feet of administrative and operations facilities, 160,000 square feet of covered fabrication facilities and 20,000 square feet of warehouse facilities. It also has 6,750 linear feet of water frontage, including 2,350 feet of steel bulkheads.

This month MR dives inside the $60 million refit of RV Roger Revelle, a project which leverages a treasure trove of ‘lessons learned’ from recent refits in the academic research vessel fleet and highlights the value of slimming the vendor list.Research vessel (R/V) Roger Revelle is back at work after a midlife refit involving upgrades from top to bottom, bow to stern. The ship is owned by the Office of Naval Research and has been operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego since 1996. It is one of the largest ships in the U.S.

Scientists have discovered an active methane seep from Antarctica's sea bed that could shed light on the potent greenhouse gas trapped beneath the frozen continent.Marine ecologist Andrew Thurber first glimpsed what a colleague described as a "microbial waterfall" during a dive in the icy waters of the Ross Sea in 2012. What looked like a superhighway of white patches on the ocean floor were clusters of tiny organisms drawn to the methane leak."My first thought was 'wow,' and I was immediately enamored with what this means for science…

Search & Rescue algorithm identify hidden “traps” in ocean waters, helping to more quickly identify regions where objects — and missing people — may have converged.The ocean is a messy and turbulent space, where winds and weather kick up waves in all directions. When an object or person goes missing at sea, the complex, constantly changing conditions of the ocean can confound and delay critical search-and-rescue operations.Now researchers at MIT, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH)…

The good news is that work has commenced on the first new heavy polar icebreaker for the United States Coast Guard in 43 years. The bad news is that when it enters service, projected to occur in FY2024, it will be the first new heavy polar icebreaker for the USCG in 47 years.Meanwhile, Russia has approximately 30 active polar icebreakers, including four that are nuclear powered. Arktika, the first of a new class of three heavy polar icebreakers, has commenced sea trials in the Gulf of Finland, with the other two under construction.

The U.S. Coast Guard's sole heavy icebreaker arrived January 22 at McMurdo Station, following a 58-day transit from the United States. Cutter Polar Star (WAGB 10) departed its’ homeport of Seattle on November 26.This year marks the Polar Star’s 23rd journey to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze, an annual joint military service mission to resupply the United States Antarctic stations, in support of the National Science Foundation, the lead agency for the United States Antarctic Program.The 399-foot…

The Coast Guard needs a ship that can do more than just break ice; it needs a multi-mission ship to provide for the nation’s security, asserting its sovereign rights, and protecting its long-term economic interests. That ship is the Polar Security Cutter.Since Russia cashed the check in 1867 for the purchase of Alaska the U.S. has been an Arctic nation. Today, it is one of eight countries that have territorial land or seas above the Arctic Circle or in the polar region (six of those countries have Arctic Ocean coastline or an exclusive economic zone above the Arctic Circle). The U.S.

At CMRE, it’s not just about the science. It’s about building trust and confidence in resilient systems. An interview with Dr. Catherine Warner, Director, NATO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation, La Spezia, ItalyTell us a little about yourself and CMRE. What does CMRE do, and how do you see your mission evolving?I came here from the Pentagon, where I was the science advisor for the director of operational test and evaluation. My experience has been working with operators on systems that they’re getting ready to field.

A study published by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) shows that polystyrene, one of the world’s most ubiquitous plastics, may degrade in decades or centuries when exposed to sunlight, rather than thousands of years as previously thought. The study published October 10, 2019, in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters.“Right now, policy makers generally assume that polystyrene lasts forever in the environment,” says Collin Ward, a marine chemist at WHOI and lead author of the study. “That’s part of justification for writing policy that bans it.

American manufacturer of specialized structures and marine vessels used in the energy sector Gulf Island Fabrication announced that it received an award for the construction of a third Regional Class Research Vessel for Oregon State University (OSU).The fabricator of marine vessels, this represents OSU’s execution of its third option for Gulf Island’s construction of three Regional Class Research Vessels. All three vessels will be built in the Company’s shipyard in Houma, Louisiana. Each vessel will be ABS Ice-Class CO and DPS-1, Green-Marine Certified, acoustically quiet, and carry up to 29 crew and embarked scientists."I am pleased that OSU has exercised its third contract option…