The National Science Foundation's (NSF) new Regional-class research vessel that will be homeported at the University of Rhode Island's (URI) Narragansett Bay Campus will be named Narragansett Dawn, URI has confirmed.
The NSF selected the URI-led East Coast Oceanographic Consortium (ECOC) to operate the vessel, which is one in a series of three. The consortium includes the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of New Hampshire School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering along with numerous associate members.
Narragansett Dawn will support scientific studies such as monitoring ocean currents, seafloor surveys in earthquake-prone regions of the world, testing new technologies such as remote sampling platforms, tracking legacy and emerging ocean contaminants, conservation of marine resources such as fisheries, and food-web dynamics in the deep ocean. In addition, the ship will offer education and public engagement opportunities for teachers, undergraduate and graduate students, and the public.
The name for the US$125 million vessel was selected following a nationwide competition.
Like its sisters, Narragansett Dawn is being built at Louisiana's Gulf Island Fabrication to a design developed by naval architects Glosten Associates.
