A look at the world of research vessels!
Posted: August 26, 2015 Filed under: Home | Tags: Future Research Vessel Project, International Research Ship Operators, IRSO, Marine National Facility, RV Investigator, ship construction Leave a commentAround the world there are lots of research vessels and the International Research Ship Operators, or IRSO, provides a forum for collaboration and cooperation.
The Marine National Facility is one of the organisations that belongs to IRSO.
Last year we collaborated to produce this video, about some of the different kinds of research vessels there are around the world and the sort of science that’s being undertaken.
You’ll need to go and grab a cuppa, the video runs for an hour and a half!
If you’d like to fast forward to a particular operator:
| IRSO member | Start of sequence |
| Alfred Wegener Institute | 35s |
| Australian Antarctic Division | 4 mins 49 s |
| British Antarctic Survey | 8 mins 23 s |
| NATO Science and Technology Organisation – Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation | 12 mins, 44s |
| Marine National Facility (MNF) Australia | 16 mins 52 s |
| French Polar Institute | 23 mins 4 s |
| GEOMAR Helmholt Centre for Ocean Research Kiel | 26 mins 45s |
| French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer) | 31 mins 38 s |
| Institute of Oceanology China, Chinese Academy of Sciences | 36 mins 15s |
| Institute of Marine Research Norway | 43 mins 20s |
| Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) | 46 mins 30s |
| Marine Technology Unit (CSIC) | 51 mins 10s |
| National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) | 54 mins 44 s |
| National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) | 59 mins |
| National Oceanography Centre (NOC) | 1 hr 01 min 23 s |
| Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI) | 1 hr 05 mins, 49 s |
| Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego | 1 hr 10 mins 50 s |
| Spanish Institute of oceanography | 1 hr 15 mins 24 s |
| University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLC) | 1 hr 26 mins 59 s |
| US Coastguard | 1 hr 32 mins 55 s |
A Queen’s Birthday Honour for Toni Moate!
Posted: June 8, 2015 Filed under: Home | Tags: Future Research Vessel Project, Queen's Birthday Honours List, RV Investigator, Toni Moate Leave a comment
We’re pretty chuffed that the Executive Director of the Future Research Vessel Project, Toni Moate has been awarded the Public Service Medal for outstanding public service in Australian marine and atmospheric science, as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List!
The media release sent out today, Monday 8 June 2015 said…
The Governor-General and Chancellor of the Order of Australia, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd), approved the awards that were announced today in The Queen’s Birthday 2015 Honours List. The Queen’s Birthday 2015 Honours List recognises a diverse range of contributions and service across all fields, including professional endeavours, community service, Defence and Emergency Services personnel, and acts of bravery.
“We are fortunate as a community to have so many outstanding people willing to dedicate themselves to the betterment of our nation and it is only fitting that they have today been recognised through the Australian Honours system. Since 1975 these awards have drawn national attention to the personal efforts of individuals, made willingly, without thought of recognition or recompense,” the Governor-General said.
Ms Moate has excelled in leadership of both research and development in the fields of marine and atmospheric science during her career of over 20 years with the CSIRO. She is widely regarded as one of Australia’s leading research managers and, most recently, as one of the world’s top marine infrastructure professionals. She played a pivotal role in an extraordinarily large and complex national project, namely delivering the Marine National Facility’s new research vessel Investigator. Under her direction the vessel was delivered on scope and on budget. Ms Moate led a rigorous multinational procurement and delivery process to design, build and commission the new vessel, which represents a step forward in Australia’s marine science capabilities that will serve our nation with distinction for many decades to come.
Museum Victoria’s update on the benthic trial voyage
Posted: May 5, 2015 Filed under: Home | Tags: Benthic, Future Research Vessel Project, Marine National Facility, RV Investigator, Trial voyage Leave a comment
So what happened on the benthic trial voyage on board RV Investigator?
Tim O’Hara from Museum Victoria has written a fabulous blog about his experiences and you should check it out!
http://museumvictoria.com.au/about/mv-blog/may-2015/mv-at-sea/
Looking back at the FRV Project and forward to Investigator’s maiden voyage!
Posted: March 11, 2015 Filed under: Home | Tags: Construction, Future Research Vessel Project, Maiden voyage, Marine National Facility, RV Investigator Leave a commentIt’s been an incredible journey for the Future Research Vessel Project Team and the hundreds of scientists, support staff, designers, builders, suppliers and manufacturers who’ve contributed to the new Marine National Facility research vessel, Investigator.
In a matter of weeks Investigator will embark on its maiden voyage.
Why don’t you check out the video that tells some of this story!
The first data from the TRIAXUS is collected on a trial voyage!
Posted: November 19, 2014 Filed under: Home | Tags: Future Research Vessel Project, Group 2 scientific equipment, Marine National Facility, RV Investigator Leave a commentOceanographers seek to understand the dynamics of the ocean and observe changes across seasons and over decades, to better understand weather, climate and how changes impact fisheries, offshore infrastructure and coastal developments.
The TRIAXUS system is a towed undulating CTD system which can collect data up to three kilometres behind the ship, and to depths of 350 metres, in an undisturbed environment. It carries electronic sensors that measure conductivity (salinity), temperature, oxygen, light levels, the wavelengths involved in photosynthesis, turbidity, and the quantity of phytoplankton.
On the recent trial voyage, the first TRIAXUS data was collected off northern Maria Island, on the east coast of Tasmania, and out and over the continental shelf.
The data shows the complex structure of a wisp of warm East Australian Current surrounded by cooler water.
Check out the very cool photos and data!
Great looking ship!
Posted: November 7, 2014 Filed under: Home | Tags: Future Research Vessel Project, Marine National Facility Leave a commentMax McGuire from the Marine National Facility’s Ships Group has been out taking some gorgeous photos of RV Investigator in port.
Check out the images!
How much does Investigator weigh?
Posted: November 3, 2014 Filed under: Home | Tags: Future Research Vessel Project, Marine National Facility, RV Investigator 1 CommentThe new Marine National Facility research vessel Investigator seems really big, but how much does it weigh?
Turns out it’s a lot!!
There are a couple of key weights we need to measure:
Lightship Displacement – 4343 tonnes
This is the amount of sea water the ship displaces without anything on board, like fuel, water, stores, people, non-permanent scientific equipment. In simple terms, this is what the empty ship would weigh if you put it on a set of scales.
Deadweight – 1550 tonnes
This is the total amount weight that can be carried on the ship, including fuel, water, stores, people, non-permanent scientific equipment etc.
Maximum Displacement – 5893 tonnes (the sum of the two weights above)
This is the maximum weight the ship is allowed to be, for stability and safety reasons.
The other common weight you may see is Gross Tonnage (GT ) – 6082 tonnes. This is a volumetric measurement in cubic metres of all internal spaces within the ship and is used for registration and revenue purposes, in particular port related charges. This was known as Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT).
At lightship displacement the ship’s draft is 5.1 metres and at maximum displacement the draft is 6.2 metres. The draft is measured from the deepest part of the keel (bottom) of the ship and the gondola sits 1.2 metres below the keel.
