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SFOS Newsletter
Fall 2007

SFOS awarded first phase of Alaska Region Research Vessel

After 30 years of planning and development, UAF has been awarded the first phase of funding for the construction of the Alaska Region Research Vessel, a 236-foot, $123-million ice-capable vessel to support research in high latitudes.

The National Science Foundation announced the $2.5 million award in early August. It will fund the first of four phases of construction of the research vessel. The ARRV will be owned by NSF and operated by UAF on behalf of the entire ocean sciences community, through the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS). The estimated completion date for the vessel is 2011.

The new vessel will open up the ice-choked waters of the Alaska region to scientists from all over the world, said Terry Whitledge, director of the Institute of Marine Science at UAF SFOS and the project leader. “The ARRV will be the first vessel in the U.S. academic research fleet capable of breaking ice up to 2.5 ft thick. With this level of ice-breaking technology, it will literally allow us to go where we haven’t been able to go before.”

In addition to its ice-breaking capabilities, the ARRV will allow researchers to collect sediment samples directly from the seafloor, host remotely operated vehicles and use a suite of flexible winches to raise and lower testing equipment throughout the water column. The ship will also be able to transmit real-time information directly to classrooms all over the world. The ARRV will accommodate 26 scientists and students at a time, including those with disabilities.

With its ability to penetrate the polar and sub-polar regions, the ARRV will allow scientists and graduate students to study global issues, such as sea-level rise and climate change and the effects of both on the coastal and arctic ecosystems.

Research in this region is particularly important because of the high productivity of Alaska’s continental shelves and the livelihood of thousands of Alaskans directly tied to the health of Alaska’s fisheries, Whitledge said.

The ship will be headquartered out of the Seward Marine Center. The vessel’s size will require a new, all-weather dock and additional support facilities at the center.

The ARRV was designed in 2004 by The Glosten Associates, a group of marine architects located in Seattle. It was developed as a replacement for the R/V Alpha Helix, a 133-foot research vessel that was built in 1966 and officially retired last year.

Mike Prince, executive secretary for UNOLS, an organization of academic institutions that oversee the national academic fleet of research vessels, says that the ARRV is like “a field of dreams.”

“The academic research fleet has long been missing a fully capable year-round vessel in Alaska waters,” added Prince.

UAF Chancellor Steve Jones sees the award as an important accomplishment for UAF during the International Polar Year, a major global initiative among scientists to better understand the polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctic.

“An award of this magnitude signals that the National Science Foundation recognizes the extraordinary stature of our university as well as our outstanding School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences faculty and staff,” said Jones. “The ARRV will stand as an IPY legacy for UAF, America’s Arctic University.”