Launch and naming ceremony for RV Sikuliaq at Marinette Marine
On Saturday, the $200 million, 261-foot-long research vessel Sikuliaq operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks has finally been launched in the waters off of Marinette, Wisc, AlaskaDispatch reported.
That doesn’t mean the ship is ready for action, though - it’s still less than 80 percent complete. After that, it faces months of testing. It won’t even find its way to Alaska until the end of 2013. But Saturday’s ceremony is a big step forward, and it highlights the progress being made on the ship, which is being funded primarily through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the stimulus.
The ship, when finished, will also fill an important gap in American research capabilities; it’s the first vessel devoted to research that will have a double-reinforced hull capable of icebreaking. The name itself, Sikuliaq, is particularly fitting; it's an Iñupiaq word meaning "young sea ice."
In recent years, the Arctic has become a hotspot for research, but there has been a serious gap in the availability of scientific vessels capable of negotiating the harsh and often icebound environment.
After the ship is put in the water, there will be plenty of work yet to do, including the installation of internal systems, Dan Oliver is the project manager for the ship’s construction. Then the ship will have to undergo extensive dockside testing before being lifted back out of the water to paint the bottom. After that, it will further test and calibrate its various research and surveying systems off the New England coast and in the deep Puerto Rico Trench before finally making the long trek to Alaska.
