The following is a summary of NOAA ship operations in August and September 2024.*
Bell M. Shimada completed the EXpanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems (EXPRESS) survey and Northern California Current survey from Newport, Oregon. In October, the Shimada is expected to transit to Vallejo, California, for its planned dry dock industrial period at Mare Island Dry Dock.
Fairweather is alongside NOAA’s Port Facility in Ketchikan, Alaska, for rudder actuator repairs following sea trials in early September. Repairs will continue in October.
Ferdinand R. Hassler was alongside the NOAA Marine Operation Center-Atlantic (MOC-A) in Norfolk, Virginia, for its planned repair period is expected to get underway in October for leg one of the Gulf of Maine hydrographic survey.
Gordon Gunter completed the Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP) Fall Plankton survey out of Pascagoula, Mississippi. The ship is alongside in Pascagoula and expected to transit to Charleston for their planned intermediate dry dock period December 1st.
Henry B. Bigelow got underway for the Northeast Fisheries Science Center Autumn Bottom Trawl survey out of Newport, Rhode Island, which will continue in October.
Nancy Foster completed Blake Plateau mapping missions out of Charleston, South Carolina, and is expected to transit to Woods Hole, Massachusetts in October to support Harmful Algal Bloom and North Atlantic Right Whale passive acoustic monitoring missions.
Okeanos Explorer is underway for the Beyond the Blue: Johnston Atoll mapping mission, which is a multi-year project that supports the Beyond the Blue campaign of addressing high-priority ocean exploration gaps in the Pacific Islands region. The ship will begin leg three of the Beyond the Blue: Papahanaumokuakea Mapping mission in October.
Oregon II supported the Southeast Fisheries Science Center Shark/Red Snapper Bottom Longline survey from Pascagoula, Mississippi. The ship is expected to continue SEAMAP Summer Shrimp and Groundfish Surveys from Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Galveston, Texas, in October.
Oscar Dyson completed the Ecosystems and Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations Fall Mooring project while underway to Kodiak, Alaska. The ship is expected to transit to Seward, Alaska, in October for dockside repairs and its industrial period.
Oscar Elton Sette began the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Reef Assessment survey, which involves documenting the recovery of reefs and corals. The survey will come to an end early October before the ship gets underway for the West Hawaii Integrated Ecosystem Assessment survey out of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Pisces completed the Southeast Fisheries-Independent Survey in September out of Morehead City, North Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia. The Pisces is expected to undergo scheduled dockside repairs alongside Marine Operations Center-Atlantic in Norfolk, Virginia.
Rainier is alongside Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, undergoing repair work and inspection with planned operational readiness training expected in October. Summer surveys were completed in the South Puget Sound near Olympia, Washington, in July. (See the Southern and Central Puget Sound description on the NOAA Coast Survey story map.)
Reuben Lasker completed legs three and four of the Coastal Pelagic Species survey from Newport, Oregon. In October, the Reuben Lasker will transit to their homeport in San Diego, California, and get underway for operational readiness training.
Ronald H. Brown is alongside at the Bollinger shipyard pier in Pascagoula, Mississippi, for its midlife repair period through the end of October. Sea trials are expected to begin in November following the repair period.
Thomas Jefferson supported Approaches to Charleston hydrographic survey missions in September and is expected to continue hydrographic survey efforts out of Charleston in October. (See the NOAA Coast Survey story map for more information.)
*As of September 30, 2024
United States