Noaa News

NOAA held a groundbreaking ceremony to signal the start of renovations at its pier facility in North Charleston, S.C.The project, expected to wrap up in 2026, includes the demolition of the site's existing pier and construction of a new one for NOAA's ships homeported in Charleston, the Ronald H. Brown and Nancy Foster. The new pier will feature shoreside power for the vessels, as well as a warehouse, sea wall, living shoreline and other supporting infrastructure.In September 2023, NOAA awarded $59.8 million to Manson Construction Company for the renovations.

NOAA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (or NIST) are starting the new year off on the “right” foot.On New Year’s Eve, the two federal agency partners will officially retire the use of one of two measuring feet, to reduce surveying errors that can cost money.Discontinuing the use of the U.S. survey foot and embracing of its replacement — the international foot — are also part of NOAA’s modernization of the National Spatial Reference System.“Officially retiring one of these measurements will reduce accidental confusion in engineering…

NOAA, the U.S. Navy and Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors (TMC), LLC., recently held a keel-laying ceremony today in Houma, La., for Discoverer, a new oceanographic research vessel being built for NOAA.The keel-laying ceremony marks the beginning of a ship’s construction. Second Gentleman Douglas C. Emhoff was named the ship’s sponsor. In keeping with maritime tradition, the initials of the ship’s sponsor were welded onto a steel plate that will be incorporated into the ship as it is built.The 244-foot Discoverer will support a wide variety of NOAA missions…

NOAA released two Atlases compiling the best available science to inform the identification of Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) in the Gulf of Mexico and Southern California. NOAA previously identified these regions for their potential to host sustainable commercial aquaculture development in the United States. Areas in the Atlases will have characteristics expected to support multiple types of aquaculture industries including finfish, shellfish, seaweed, or some combination."The aquaculture Atlases apply the latest ocean data and information to advance sustainable business development…

NOAA’s effort to recapitalize its aging fleet of research ships took a major step forward today with the U.S. Navy’s award of a $178,082,877 contract to Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors LLC, Houma, La., for the detailed design and construction of two new oceanographic ships.NOAA is acquiring the vessels through an agreement with the Naval Sea Systems Command, a leader in building, providing and procuring large research ships for the nation's research fleet.The first ship, to be named Oceanographer, will be homeported in Honolulu.

The advent of autonomy in the maritime and subsea space has received a significant boost with the announcement that a pair of U.S. government titans, the United States Navy and NOAA, have inked an deal to jointly expand the development and operations of unmanned maritime systems.“With the strengthening of our ongoing partnership with the Navy, NOAA will be better positioned to transition unmanned maritime technologies into operational platforms that will gather critical environmental data that will help grow the American Blue Economy,” said retired Navy Rear Adm.

VT Halter Marine was selected for Phase 1 Preliminary/Contract design for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) AGOR Variant (NAV). For the NAV program VT Halter Marine teamed with Gibbs & Cox, Inc. to provide NAVSEA and NOAA a design approach that will deliver efficient and multi-mission effective NOAA AGOR Variant (NAV) Ships. Together, the design team brings together a group of companies with more than 160 years of combined experience in designing. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) made the announcement of the awards for the firm-fixed-price groups for the shallow coastal, continental shelf, and worldwide ocean survey and data collection requirements ships Phase I. Initial contract award for VT Halter Marine Phase I is $1.465 million.