Scripps News

Naval architecture and marine engineering firm Glosten and Siemens Energy have selected Ballard Power Systems and Chart Industries as primary equipment vendors for their design of what will be the first hydrogen-hybrid research vessel in the world. The vessel, nominally known as the CCRV, is currently in the design phase and will be owned and operated by UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography (Scripps). Ballard Power Systems will provide the fuel cells which will help power the vessel…

A U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Diego helicopter crew rescued a 64-year-old male passenger from a fishing vessel approximately 40 miles off the coast of San Diego, Thursday.Coast Guard Sector San Diego Joint Harbor Operations Center watchstanders received a distress call from the fishing vessel Pride, requesting a medical evacuation for a crewmember at approximately 9 a.m. The injured male was experiencing multiple onset abnormalities.Based on the reported condition of the individual…

A dynamic era in naval oceanography recently ended as the iconic Floating Instrument Platform — popularly known as FLIP — was officially retired from service.Built in 1962 with funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), FLIP helped generations of scientists and oceanographers better understand the mysteries of the sea, including internal waves, air-sea interaction and long-range sound propagation. Sadly, age and exorbitant life-extension costs resulted in the platform being disestablished.On Aug.

A Coast Guard helicopter aircrew medically evacuated a 57-year-old woman from the cruise ship Carnival Radiance approximately 35 miles southwest of Point Loma, Saturday. Carnival Radiance crewmembers contacted Coast Guard Sector San Diego Joint Harbor Operations Center watchstanders at approximately 4:30 p.m. requesting assistance for a passenger displaying stroke symptoms.Watchstanders launched a Coast Guard Sector San Diego MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew with a San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Special Tactics and Rescue (STAR) Team paramedic aboard to assist.Once on the scene, the helicopter crew lowered the rescue swimmer, recovered the patient and transported her to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. The patient was reported to be in stable condition.

ABS has claimed a first with the publication of an expansive set of requirements to guide the industry in the use of hydrogen-fueled vessels.The ABS Requirements for Hydrogen Fueled Vessels offers the industry a risk assessment framework for introducing hydrogen as marine fuel to their fleet.The publication is a continuation of ABS' attention to the alternative fuel, building upon projects such as the ABS-classed, Glosten-designed hydrogen-fueled research vessel for the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

US Coast Guard helicopter aircrews medically evacuated four separate passengers off three different cruise ships, off the southern California coast, during a 24-hour period beginning Friday night.A 47-year-old woman, reportedly suffering from a progressive acute illness, was hoisted off the cruise ship Carnival Panorama, which was 100 miles south of San Diego. The cruise ship and an MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew from Coast Guard Sector San Diego rendezvoused 100 miles south of San Diego.

A hydrogen-fueled research vessel commissioned by the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography will be built to ABS Class.Designed by Glosten, the vessel will feature a new hydrogen-hybrid propulsion system that integrates hydrogen fuel cells alongside a conventional diesel-electric power plant, enabling zero-emission operations. The design is scaled so the ship will be able to operate 75% of its missions entirely using hydrogen. For longer missions…

REMEMBERING MY SHIPMATE JOHN MICHELWe met in January 1959 when I became the first Officer in Charge of the Navy’s newly acquired Bathyscaph Trieste and John was the first USN enlisted man to be assigned to the project. We were based at the Naval Electronics Laboratory in San Diego. Trieste was unique as there were only two deep diving manned submersibles in the world. The French Navy had the other. Our team learned about the bathyscaph more by ‘apprenticeship’ than through any sort of formal learning process.

Hydrogen is everywhere. You know that from high school chemistry. And you also know it from Marine News’ almost daily updates about H powered vessel projects around the world.As a fuel that could potentially replace fossil fuels, H is in the spotlight. Perhaps the brightest spotlight, at least in the U.S., is within the Department of Energy’s “Energy Earthshots” initiative.R&D on H was the first such Earthshot announced last year. DOE wants the “Hydrogen Shot” program to “accelerate…

UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography today announced that naval architecture and marine engineering company Glosten has been selected as the naval architect for the university’s new California coastal research vessel. The new vessel will feature a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-hybrid propulsion system.Selected after participating in the university's request for proposal process, Glosten will provide the preliminary design, contract design and detailed design for the research vessel to be operated by Scripps Oceanography.“This vessel will be the first of its kind…

In the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress established a commission to rename several military bases and ships that commemorate members of the Confederacy. One of these is the Naval oceanographic ship USNS Maury (T-AGS 66), named after oceanographer Matthew Fontaine Maury, who resigned his commission in the U.S. Navy to join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the American Civil War. The USNS Maury is an asset of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC), which I led from 2014-2017.

The U.S. Navy’s three Global class oceanographic research ships (AGORs) have received a new lease on life. The ships-- R/V Thomas G. Thompson (AGOR 23), R/V Roger Revelle (AGOR 24) and R/V Atlantis (AGOR 25)-- which entered service between 1991 and 1998--were built with 30-year expected service lives. Thanks to extensive overhauls on all three they have been returned to service with another 15 years of useful service.AGOR 23 is operated by the University of Washington; AGOR 24 is operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography…

Ocean explorer and scientist Dr. Robert D. Ballard opens up on his personal life and his world-famous ocean discoveries like never before in his new book, “Into the Deep.” Best known as ‘the man who found the Titanic,’ Marine Technology Reporter had the opportunity to interview Ballard on the contents of the book, a book released yesterday with a follow-up National Geographic television special scheduled for June 14, 2021, taking a deep dive into his dyslexia, the importance of his family throughout his career…

Who do you call when you need a job done on short notice, in total darkness, under 100-percent ice cover, thousands of meters at the bottom of the sea? In the case of the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR), you call your friends in Norway.That is exactly what the Chief of Naval Research Rear Admiral Lorin C. Selby did when he enlisted the help of the Norwegian Coast Guard icebreaker and offshore patrol vessel, the CGV Svalbard, to retrieve oceanographic moorings containing irreplaceable data.

The U.S. Navy uses unmanned and robotic underwater vehicles for a multitude of functions, including environmental sensing, mine hunting, and salvage. The Navy plans to evolve an unmanned systems operating concept that is platform agnostic and capable of operating in highly complex contested environments with minimal operator interaction.The most recent edition of the Navy’s Unmanned Systems (UxS) Roadmap was issued in 2018, and a new version is expected in the near future. The 2018 document states that UxS will operate in every domain…

From 3D laser scanning to Computational Fluid Dynamics, an efficient and successful major mid-life refit such as the one completed on the RV Roger Revelle requires intricate advance design planning, an updated technical toolbelt, as well as the personal touch. Tim Leach, Principal, Naval Architect (Glosten), walks us through the process.Tim Leach, Principal, Naval Architect, Glosten. Image courtesy GlostenWhat work was completed by Glosten on the RV Roger Revelle midlife refit?Glosten has a long history of working with Scripps (SIO) and the Revelle.

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.

Boatbuilder Brix Marine (formerly Armstrong Marine USA) has been contracted by aerospace and defense technology company, Northrop Grumman, to build a catamaran survey-research vessel, slated for fall 2021 completion.The 44- by 16-foot vessel is Brix’s third IPS-drive catamaran; the first two were 4216-CTC models, both delivered in 2019, to UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography (R/V Bob and Betty Beyster) and Orca Maritime, Inc. (R/V Benthic Cat), respectively.Northrop Grumman said they will utilize the vessel for testing commercial navigation systems…

Insights on technology advances with Rear Admiral John Okon, Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command.Rear Admiral Okon never started out to have a career in Oceanography, rather in Broadcast Meteorology. “At NY Maritime College, I studied both Meteorology and Oceanography and became equally passionate about Oceanography. Thanks to the U.S. Navy, we have a career field in both.”By its very nature, the U.S. Navy operates in one of the most discussed and disected environments on earth, the oceans.“The ocean is critical to National and Global Security.

An ailing mariner was medevaced Thursday from a bulk carrier more than 250 miles west of San Diego, the U.S. Coast Guard said.On Wednesday night, watchstanders at 11th Coast Guard District command center received a request for assistance from the Panamanian-flagged bulker Jal Kamadhenu, which reported a 55-year-old crewman on board was displaying symptoms of a possible heart attack or stroke.A Coast Guard Sector San Diego MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter launched on Thursday morning with…

Unmanned Vehicles Collect Data for Improving Storm ForecastsThe influences of ocean conditions and currents on living environments are now more widely appreciated—from the Earth’s climate and severe weather conditions to fisheries and biodiversity. Sustained and widespread measurements are needed to provide essential clues for understanding the oceans, for effective monitoring of environmental changes, and for helping to clarify the long-term effects of global warming.To meet this challenge, ocean researchers have invented various types of unmanned observing platforms.

From racing scows on the inland lakes of Minnesota to graduating from the United States Merchant Marine Academy to taking the helm of Glosten, Morgan Fanberg has led a ‘maritime life.’ We caught up with Fanberg in his Seattle office to discuss the path ahead for one of the U.S.’ most progressive and respected naval architecture and marine engineering firms.Morgan Fanberg has always been a ‘maritime guy,’ but his early maritime aspirations centered on racing sailboats. “I went to St.

Washington-based boat builder Armstrong Marine said it has delivered a new 42’ x 16’ catamaran research vessel, Benthic Cat, to Orca Maritime, Inc. following launch and sea trials in Port Angeles Harbor. The vessel will enter service immediately, beginning with a week-long operation around San Clemente Island.The second IPS-drive catamaran delivered by Armstrong, the 4216-CTC model was selected by Orca Maritime after the builder delivered the same design to UC San Diego’s Scripps…