Fast facts about RV Investigator
Posted: May 10, 2014 Filed under: Fast Fact!, Investigator | Tags: Investigator, RV Investigator 2 Comments
Investigator looking fabulous during her sea trials.
Australia has one of the world’s largest marine territories, much of which remains unexplored, with only one blue-water research vessel available to our marine research community. Here’s five facts about the new Marine National Facility research vessel, Investigator.
- The ship was given the name Investigator after a national naming competition by 10-year-old student Clare Cameron and PhD student Kirrily Moore.
- Investigator will be capable of spending 300 days a year at sea, each voyage will be able to accommodate up to 40 scientists.
- The vessel is 93.9 metres, replacing the 66-metre vessel Southern Surveyor.
- Investigator will be capable of operating continuously for 60 days at sea, cruising at 12 knots over a range of 10 000 nautical miles in a single voyage.
The new vessel will operate from the tropical north to the Antarctic ice-edge and across the Indian, Southern, and Pacific oceans, greatly improving our capacity to investigate and understand marine geological processes, detect and predict changes in the ocean environment and their implications for weather and climate and characterise and manage marine ecosystems, biodiversity and fisheries.
Late last year Investigator was moved from the wharf at the Sembawang Shipyard, in Singapore, into the water. The skidding took several days, as the hydraulic system used to move the ship across the wharf only moves at a snail’s pace, taking minutes to move just millimetres.
Applications to use Investigator in 2014-15 – pre-proposals due today!
Posted: July 27, 2012 Filed under: Fast Fact!, Home, Investigator, Marine National Facility Leave a commentThe new Marine National Facility (MNF) Research Vessel Investigator is currently under construction. Following a commissioning period in 2013-2014, Investigator is scheduled to be available for research in Australia’s regional seas and oceans in 2014-2015. Owned and operated by CSIRO, Investigator has been designed to undertake research in:
- physical, chemical and biological oceanography,
- marine geosciences,
- fisheries, and
- environmental science.
The vessel will be particularly suited to multi-disciplinary research projects.
Call for Applications for the Financial Year 2014-2015
Australian marine researchers are invited to submit an application for use of Investigator during the period July 2014 to June 2015.
The MNF Steering Committee encourages new applicants, applications for national and international collaborative projects and projects covering more than one year.
Area of Operations 2014-2015
The MNF Steering Committee has not specified an Area of Operations in 2014-2015. Applications will be accepted for work in all Australian regional seas and oceans, from the tropics to the Antarctic ice edge.
Closing Date for Applications
A brief pre-proposal must 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 are available through the MNF website.
All the details you need to apply can be found on the MNF website www.marine.csiro.au/nationalfacility/Investigator/index.htm.
Fast Fact!
Posted: June 18, 2012 Filed under: Fast Fact!, Home, Investigator Leave a commentThe sheets of steel being used to construct RV Investigator weigh between 1.4 and 2.45 tonne and are 2.4 metres wide and 9.1 metres long. 
How beautiful are the latest graphics of RV Investigator
Posted: June 11, 2012 Filed under: Fast Fact!, Home, Investigator, The Future Research Vessel Project Leave a commentSoon we’ll be able to tell you the design and colours that have been chosen for Investigator’s hull. In the meantime here are the latest graphics that will give you a good idea of how she’ll look.
She’s a work of art!
Fast Fact!
Posted: May 30, 2012 Filed under: Fast Fact!, Home, Investigator, Marine National Facility Leave a commentSeafloor: There will be an increased capability for sedimentology, geomorphology, geophysics and palaeoclimatology on RV Investigator, with the latest technology in multibeam echosounders, deep water coring, side scan sonars and seismic compressors.
Fast Fact!
Posted: May 21, 2012 Filed under: Fast Fact!, Investigator, Marine National Facility, RV Southern Surveyor, The Future Research Vessel Project Leave a commentOceanographic: RV Investigator will have a 36 bottle sampling rosette CTD system (this measures salinity, temperature and depth), instruments for underway water property measurement and acoustic transducers.
Fast Fact!
Posted: April 16, 2012 Filed under: Fast Fact!, Investigator, Marine National Facility, RV Southern Surveyor, The Future Research Vessel Project Leave a commentMeteorology: Southern Surveyor measures solar and terrestrial radiation to determine ocean heating. Investigator will be able to collect this data nearly year round and in a wider scope of locations.
