What a year it’s been! July 2012
Posted: December 31, 2012 Filed under: Home, Investigator, Marine National Facility, RV Southern Surveyor, The Future Research Vessel Project Leave a commentIn July, the Marine National Facility and the Future Research Vessel Project teams were at the AMSA-NZMSS Conference in Hobart to tell delegates about the amazing research capabilities of RV Investigator.
The call for applications to use Investigator in 2014-15 went out. A brief pre-proposal needed to be submitted by 27 July 2012 and full applications submitted by 24 August 2012. Further details on applying for use of Investigator and application forms were made available through the MNF website www.marine.csiro.au/nationalfacility/Investigator/index.htm.
Australia’s Marine National Facility research vessel, Southern Surveyor, returned to the Southern Ocean for a pilot project to measure the air-sea exchange of heat, moisture, carbon dioxide and oxygen in the sub-Antarctic ocean, and at the same time to test the continuing ability of moored instruments to withstand the roughest ocean conditions anywhere. Southern Surveyor deployed three moored measuring systems to be anchored at a depth of nearly five kilometres, 580km south-west of Tasmania.
Investigator’s propulsion motor was built, tested, approved and shipped from Spain to Singapore. Here are some of the team members who made this possible, standing next to the motor.
We held the monthly safety incentive awards ceremony at the shipyard and celebrated the ongoing effort everyone’s putting into make it a safe place to work. To date we were maintaining zero Lost Time Injuries (LTI), which meant no lost time due to an accident or injury. At the time, when you add up all the hours everyone’s put in, that was over 450,000 man hours!
CSIRO’s Dr Melita Keywood and Dr Sarah Lawson told us all about the new and exciting atmospheric research possibilities on Investigator: RV Investigator will have a two dedicated laboratories for atmospheric research:
- Aerosol laboratory located at the bow of the ship
- Air chemistry laboratory adjacent to the foredeck
Air will be drawn into the laboratories via an aerosol sampling mast (part of foremast) with an inlet located 24 m above the sea surface, which point into the direction of the wind. Various instruments will be mounted on the foremast for the measurement of sea-air fluxes and a weather radar will compliment the range of detailed meteorological observations that will be routinely made. Sites for two containers on the foredeck will supply laboratory space for intensive measurement campaigns. Atmospheric research on board the RV Investigator will take the form of ‘routine’ climate tracking observations and mission driven campaign experiments.
And, we saw the latest photos from the shipyard.
What a year it’s been! June 2012
Posted: December 26, 2012 Filed under: Home, Investigator, Marine National Facility, RV Southern Surveyor, The Future Research Vessel Project Leave a commentIn June, we announced a competition to win a LEGO® Investigator, to celebrate World Oceans Day. All you needed to do, was to subscribe to this blog by midnight Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) on 8 June 2012. Our winner was Natalie Strickland.
Professor Richard Arculus from the Research School of Earth Sciences, part of the ANU College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, led a research team of geologists on a three-week research voyage over May to June onboard Southern Surveyor.
What Professor Arculus and his team found was that the region to the north of Fiji is one that joins the colliding Pacific and Australian plates. These plates are respectively being driven beneath each other, the Pacific beneath Australia along the Tonga Trench, and Australia beneath the Pacific along the New Hebrides Trench. In between the ends of the trenches is a zone of faults and ridges where huge amounts of magma have erupted on the ocean floor, forming lots of underwater volcanoes and mineral-laden hot spring deposits.
On the transit voyage from Fiji to Hobart, a PhD student from The University of Western Australia, Julia Reisser, undertook research to create the first map to show the distribution of floating marine plastics in Australian waters, and models that chart the likely pathways of these plastics and sea turtle hatchlings.
In Singapore we took delivery of a very large package all under wraps. A big, beautiful…
And, we released the first instalment of time lapse footage of the construction of RV Investigator, which was filmed at the time of the Keel Laying Ceremony in May.
What a year it’s been! May 2012
Posted: December 24, 2012 Filed under: Home, Investigator, Marine National Facility, RV Southern Surveyor, The Future Research Vessel Project Leave a commentIn May, Australia’s Marine National Facility research vessel, Southern Surveyor, headed off on a transit voyage to Fiji, with Dr Robin Beaman from James Cook University as the Chief Scientist.
Dr Beaman’s team used multibeam mapping and rock dredging equipment onboard, to investigate the Gardner Bank near Fraser Island, to determine if it could become an extension of the Great Barrier Reef.
We showed you the first images of the three main engines for RV Investigator.
We had the Keel Laying Ceremony, where two sections of the keel, each weighing around 140 tonnes, were lifted into place, ready for welding together, to form the foundation of the vessel.
And, we introduced you to Anya Waite, an oceanographer whose primary research interests are the links between ocean physics, biology and biogeochemistry. She is a Professor at the Oceans Institute and School of Environmental Systems Engineering at The University of Western Australia.
Professor Waite has been a Chief Scientist onboard Southern Surveyor. One of the things Professor Waite and her team use Australia’s Marine National Facility research vessel for, is to track patches of plankton in the ocean. Initially looking at satellite images to identify eddies that might contain important biota like western rock lobster larvae.
By tracking eddies and understanding how currents work, they have been able to discover what drives our ocean productivity in certain areas.
What a year it’s been! April 2012
Posted: December 21, 2012 Filed under: Home, Investigator, Marine National Facility, RV Southern Surveyor, The Future Research Vessel Project Leave a commentIn April, after successful sea trials, the Marine National Facility vessel Southern Surveyor headed off for the first research voyage for 2012.
CSIRO oceanographers, Ken Ridgway and Dr Bernadette Sloyan, deployed five deep water moorings across the East Australian Current, 240 kilometres east of Brisbane, to gain an insight into the characteristics of the largest ocean current in the Australian region.
We shared with you some groovy 3-D graphics of Investigator.
And, the Executive Director of the Future Research Vessel Project, Toni Moate, visited the Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore, to inspect the construction work. With her went Ben Rae, the Project Support Officer, who took these fabulous photos.
What a year it’s been! March 2012
Posted: December 20, 2012 Filed under: Home, Investigator, Marine National Facility, RV Southern Surveyor, The Future Research Vessel Project Leave a commentIn March we produced a brochure to answer everything from, how long is RV Investigator, to what kind of bow thruster will the ship have, and how many engines will there be.
Here’s an up-to-date copy: CSIRO Investigator brochure
We opened the doors of Southern Surveyor for ship tours during the CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (CMAR) Science Symposium in Hobart, and manned a stall inside Princes Wharf No 1, where the event was being held.
And, work continued in the shipyard…
What a year it’s been! February 2012
Posted: December 19, 2012 Filed under: Investigator, Marine National Facility, The Future Research Vessel Project Leave a commentIn February we said a fond farewell to Professor Craig Johnson, the Chairman of the Marine National Facility Steering Committee, who went off on study leave for a year in France with his family.
We welcomed Professor Richard Arculus as the Acting Chairman of the MNF Steering Committee.
You were introduced to one of the Future Research Vessel Project’s team members, Dr Lindsay Pender, one of our amazing specialists, who has brought his expertise to the construction and commissioning of RV Investigator.
And, sparks continued to fly in the Sembawang Shipyard as Investigator started to take shape.
What a year it’s been!
Posted: December 18, 2012 Filed under: Investigator, Marine National Facility, RV Southern Surveyor, The Future Research Vessel Project Leave a commentIt’s been an amazing year for everyone involved in the construction of Australia’s Marine National Facility research vessel, Investigator.
Let’s look back at all the hard work and contributions from CSIRO, Teekay Australia, the Sembawang Shipyard Pte Ltd in Singapore, and many more global and local organisations, which are making this project possible.
In January, Australia’s Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, was met by CSIRO’s Chief Executive Megan Clark and Marine and Atmospheric Research Chief, Bruce Mapstone. The PM toured the Marine National Facility, Southern Surveyor, and was briefed on progress with the new ship, Investigator.
Then we got to a glimpse of what Investigator was going to look like, with the first artist’s impressions of the ship released.
The coolest blog of the year, announcing the arrival of LEGO® Investigators from Denmark.
And, the construction of Australia’s new Marine National Facility research vessel, Investigator, began in the Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore.
