We know that research vessels aid and guide our insatiable drive to understand more about the oceans and their deepest mysteries. So, we utilize and deploy many research vessels to determine and achieve various nautical and oceanographic objectives.
In this article, we will take a look at the top ten research vessels of all time.
USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10)
The Polar Star research vessel, which launched in 1976, is one of the most well-known research vessels in human history. It can transport 13,623 metric tons and its design was helpful in navigating the perilous ice seas of the arctic regions.
So, for this, Polar Star has diesel-electric and gas turbine power plants with an incredible 75,000 shaft horsepower. Moreover, to break through the ice, it either reduces the size of the ice so that it melts before it becomes a hazard to ships or charts a path through to previously undiscovered locations on the bottom.
RV Neil Armstrong (AGOR-27)
The R/V Neil Armstrong is one of the world’s most recent research boats, launched in 2014. It weighs 3043 metric ton. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution operates it. But, the U.S. Navy owns it. The ship was named after Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon. Its aim is to undertake novel oceanographic research, and it is essential in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.
RRS Discovery
The RRS Discovery was a sailing ship built in 1900. It was one of the last classic wooden ships with three masts. In addition, its main source of propulsion was a steam engine. It weighed 1,570 tons and could go only at 8 knots. Its coal-fired steam engine produced 450 horsepower.
It was the first Royal Research Ship to explore the Antarctic on behalf of the Kingdom. Her maiden voyage with the British National Antarctic Expedition was a huge success, and was dubbed the Discovery Expedition later on.
RRS James Cook
The RRS James Cook, named after the great British explorer and navigator James Cook, is one of the United Kingdom’s newest research boats. It has a big displacement of 5,800 metric tons and was built to take over responsibilities from the RRS Charles Darwin.
It is 89.5 meters long and is comparable with the R/V Neil Armstrong. The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is currently in charge of it.
RP Flip
The RP Flip weighs 700 tons and measures 108 meters in length. Its design makes it partially flood before pitching forward to an upright 90-degree angle. In this state, only 17 meters of the platform is above water.
To return it to its original position, compressed air is fed into the ballast tanks, which causes it to rise out of the water slowly and lay back down. Its main aim is to investigate the density, temperature, and wave height of the water.
G.O. Sars
G.O. Sars is a Norwegian research vessel for fisheries, introduced in 2003. It has a propulsion system that eliminates underwater noise while operating at 11 knots. It has Simrad scientific echo sounders and sonars on it.
When compared to typical research vessels, it is a highly quiet vessel that emits 99 percent less noise underwater. Norway’s Institute of Marine Research (IMR) and the University of Bergen (UIB) own and operate this most recent research vessel.
Aurora Borealis
Aurora Borealis is a projected European research icebreaker, similar to the world’s strongest icebreakers, created collaboratively by a coalition of fifteen participating organizations and corporations from ten European countries.
The yacht will be able to navigate at 3kt while breaking ice up to 2.5m thick and sail at 15.5kts in the open sea. The Aurora Borealis has a total length of 200 meters and a loading capacity of 680 tons.
SA Agulhas II
The South African environmental department owns and operates the ice-breaking research vessel The Agulhas II, which conducts analytical operations in Antarctica.
STX Finland Rauma shipyard in Rauma, Finland, built her in 2012 to replace the old SA Agulhas, which was decommissioned from Antarctic service in April 2012. The Agulhas II is a cruising ship as well as a research vessel, taking cruises to some of the most remote regions on the planet.
RV Investigator
RV Investigator is a RALion-designed Australian marine research vessel. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization owns and manages the facility, built in Singapore. The Investigator’s total construction budget exceeded US$ 120 million. In 2013, the RV Investigator began her research operations.
The government owns and operates the vessel that has some cutting-edge technology upgrades that allow for enhanced research viability.
R/V Sikuliaq
Sikuliaq is an oceanographic research ship that is 261-foot long transporting scientists to the polar regions and Alaska’s ice-choked waters. The vessel is one of the most advanced university research vessels in the world.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks operates it, and the National Science Foundation owns it. It is the only vessel in the U.S. university fleet that can break through ice up to 2.5 feet thick. Sikuliaq commenced operations in the summer of 2015 and is based at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Seward Marine Center in Seward, Alaska.