NOAA plans new fisheries survey vessel

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the USA has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the construction of a new fisheries survey vessel, the fifth Oscar Dyson-class vessel designed for 40-day mission science deployments.

The ‘Oscar Dyson’ was delivered by VT Halter Marine in May 2005 as the first of four new technologically advanced fisheries survey ships to be built for NOAA. With new design modifications to support the specific requirements of NOAA?s Southwest Fisheries Science Centre (SWFSC), the new vessel is scheduled to be delivered by late 2014 and will replace the 44-year-old NOAA ship, ?David Starr Jordan?. Although designed for SWFSC, the vessel will be capable of being used for other NOAA research. The newbuilding will have a full suite of modern instrumentation for fisheries and oceanographic research, including acoustic quieting of ship systems, advanced navigation and dynamic positioning, multi-frequency acoustic sensors, bottom and mid-water trawl capabilities, scientific sampling gear and extensive wet, dry, and acoustic laboratory space.

NOAA?s RFP is an open competition for a fixed-price contract and is targeted for a November 2009 award.