VESSEL REPORT: REGIONAL CLASS RESEARCH VESSELS

摘要

The Regional Class Research Vessels (RCRV) are a new class of monohull, diesel-electric research ship designed with advanced capabilities for next generation, interdisciplinary, oceanographic operations in areas from coastal bays and estuaries to the deep ocean beyond continental margins. Three RCRVs are currently being built with funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) for operation within the U.S. Academic Research Fleet and as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS). The RCRV design incorporates twin azimuthing Z-drives with push-pull propellers; separate jet and retracting azimuthing bow thrusters; variable speed generators; a waste heat recovery system; a U-tube anti-roll tank; and a hull form optimized to reduce both power needs and bubble sweep down across hull-mounted transducers. Other features include a large open aft deck permitting the mating of up to two ISO container-sized vans with the ships' main laboratory spaces; three winches with wire and synthetic cables (two fixed winches, one portable for mounting at different locations); and a drop-down keel with exchangeable "feet" for installing different combinations of sensors. These include a Teledyne RDI Sentinel Ⅴ 300 kHz Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler, a Kongsberg EM 2040 multibeam sonar, and an ultra-short baseline acoustic positioning hydrophone.