Governor Donald L. Carcieri Joins US Senator Jack Reed and NOAA Officials at Groundbreaking Ceremony for Future Home Port of NOAA Ship "Okeanos Explorer"

10-26-2009

Governor Donald L. Carcieri today joined US Senator Jack Reed, Rear Admiral Jonathan W. Bailey, Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps and NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, Dr. Robert Ballard of the Institute for Exploration, and local elected officials and business owners to celebrate the imminent construction of an 8,400 square foot research facility and offices for the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. The home port of the 250-foot research vessel, with its crew of 24 and 19 scientists, will be at Quonset’s Pier One.

Okeanos Explorer, “America’s Ship for Ocean Exploration,” is a former Navy surveillance ship that was recently converted into a world-class tool for advanced scientific discovery. In making its decision to locate at Quonset, NOAA cited the proximity to the University of Rhode Island’s world class Oceanographic Program. Governor Donald L. Carcieri, noting that the URI Graduate School of Oceanography is already internationally known, recognized the potential for the two programs to work together and seized the opportunity to host Okeanos Explorer.

“Rhode Island is one of America’s leading centers of oceanic research,” said Governor Donald L. Carcieri. “Bringing the Okeanos Explorer to Rhode Island will enable our state to build on the research capacity we’ve already developed at URI, while also exploiting the potential of Quonset Point/Davisville as a launching point for exploring the ocean’s untapped and largely unknown resources.”

“We started on this mission to bring the Okeanos Explorer to Rhode Island more than five years ago, and today we celebrate the construction of a world class research facility. This journey was a partnership that was made possible by the tireless efforts of Senator Jack Reed, Dr. Robert Ballard, and NOAA. With URI’s School of Oceanography, with NUWC and Naval Station Newport, with our beautiful Narragansett Bay, and our renown as the Ocean State, Rhode Island is the perfect place to serve as the home port for the Okeanos Explorer,” continued Carcieri

"I am pleased to have secured over $23 million in federal funding to make Okeanos Explorer the first U.S. government ship dedicated solely to ocean exploration and to bring her home to Rhode Island," said Senator Reed, a member of the Appropriations Committee. "Home-porting Okeanos here at Quonset will have a positive economic impact on the state and immense scientific benefits for the nation. This ship can be linked to classrooms across the country and to researchers around the globe. It has already begun making exciting new discoveries, and, coupled with Dr. Ballard's staff and the world-class resources at URI's graduate school of oceanography, there will undoubtedly be many more to come."

"Though we depend on the ocean for half the oxygen we breathe, for regulating temperature and for many other benefits, the ocean is largely unknown,” said RADM Bailey. “NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer will explore the ocean for the advancement of knowledge. Today, we are proud to join our partners in Rhode Island to build a homeport for this ship of discovery."

Dr. Robert D. Ballard, Director, Center for Ocean Exploration and Archaeological Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography, said “This is the beginning of a new era in underwater exploration with the Okeanos Explorer leading the way.”

Part of NOAA’s fleet of research and survey ships and aircraft, Okeanos Explorer will map the physical, biological, chemical and archeological aspects of the ocean, as well as develop new systems for exploring it. In addition, NOAA hopes to use Okeanos Explorer as a venue for reaching out to the public about the value of ocean studies. The ship is operated, managed, and maintained by officers of the NOAA Corps, one of the nation’s seven uniformed services, and by civilians under NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. The ship’s exploration systems are operated by NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.

Okeanos Explorer is equipped with the most technologically advanced systems, developed by its Ocean Exploration and Research program and Dr. Robert Ballard’s Institute for Exploration, that will bring a new and deeper understanding to yet-unexplored areas and phenomena in the ocean.

“Housing the Okeanos Explorer at Quonset helps position Rhode Island as the nation’s leader in the Ocean Technology industry,” said J. Michael Saul, Interim Executive Director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. “With so many resources and research capabilities at the University of Rhode Island we have an opportunity to capitalize on the growth of this emerging sector and increase the number of high-wage jobs to our state.”

“Quonset is extremely pleased to be part of this exciting new initiative and we look forward to the great partnership it represents,” said Steven J. King P.E., Managing Director Quonset Development Corporation. “The Business Park’s waterfront provides ideal geographic location for the Okeanos Explorer’s home port. The new Operation and Research Center that we are breaking ground on today will serve to support this great project and the ongoing partnership with URI.”

About the Okeanos Explorer

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer is “America’s Ship for Ocean Exploration,” exploring the ocean for the purpose of discovery and the advancement of knowledge. The ship uses telepresence technology to enable explorers at sea and ashore to investigate the unknown and poorly understood ocean and its phenomena. Telepresence also allows exciting new discoveries to be shared live through satellite and Internet pathways with everyone from policymakers to audiences in science centers to students and teachers in classrooms.

Live images from the seafloor and water column will flow from the ship by satellite and high-speed Internet to scientists standing watch in any of five Exploration Command Centers ashore in the U.S. and to a new Exploration Command Center in Indonesia, where scientists will evaluate what they are viewing and make decisions on what to do next.

Exploration Command Centers are located at the Inner Space Center at the University of Rhode Island, which is the “hub” of shoreside centers; the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping and Joint Hydrography Center at the University of New Hampshire; Mystic Aquarium and the Institute for Exploration in Mystic, Connecticut; NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Lab in Seattle; and NOAA’s Science Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. Live connections from sea to shore are also planned to engage audiences at San Francisco’s Exploratorium.

Website coverage will help the public follow the missions, including regular logs from sea and supporting imagery, and news releases as well as live news conferences from sea and live video will highlight unusual observances and discoveries.

The hull-mounted multibeam sonar produces high-resolution maps of the seafloor down to 6,000 meters. Okeanos Explorer’s sonar is uniquely engineered to produce higher resolution data in deep water. The sonar is also capable of detecting gas plumes, phytoplankton and fish. The multibeam maps will be used to identify unique seafloor features or water column anomalies for further exploration and will provide a road map for exploring a particular site with camera-equipped remotely-operated vehicles.

Okeanos Explorer was previously the USNS Capable, a T-AGOS class vessel. NOAA obtained the vessel on September 10, 2004 and began conversion in 2005.

About the Research Facility and Offices

The NOAA Office, Warehouse and Workshop Building at Pier 1 sits on a 1.3 acre site eighty feet from the ocean. The building is 8,400 square foot and is comprised of two main areas, the office area and a workshop area all in support of the Okeanos Explorer. The office area is located on the ocean side and is about 2,000 SF.

The workshop area has a “lookout” area to the ocean and is adjacent to a warehouse and research spaces. This area has overhead doors for loading. It also has an eight ton overhead crane for lifting and maneuvering the ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) This space will be well lit from clerestory windows above and a generous wall of windows on the south side. Those windows also have a sun screen above.

The building is a pre-engineered steel building with highly insulated steel panels, glass and masonry veneer. The interior is made of finish materials with high recycled content and low VOC off gassing.

The mechanical systems use sensing technology and microprocessors to enhance the systems ability to simultaneous cools and heat different zones to provide optimal energy savings and heat recovery. The environmentally friendly refrigerant offers zero Ozone Depletion Potential and allows for higher heat transfer. This innovation reduces equipment and piping but provides higher pressure for greater performance.

The building also incorporates motion sensors for automatic operation of the lighting which uses high-efficient lamping, ballasts and optics on the interior. All high-bay lighting located in the warehouse & workshop has been designed with dual switching / ballasts for multiple lighting levels. The exterior lighting is controlled via a photocell & time clock for automatic / programmable operation.

Architect: Saccoccio and Associates Owners Representative: Maguire Group General Contractor: A. Autiello Construction Company

About the A. Autiello Construction Company

Autiello Construction Co. is a full service general contractor, construction management and construction consulting company serving New England for the past fifteen years. The company has specialized in academic, healthcare, industrial, commercial and municipal projects; and has constructed over 250,000 square feet of additions, renovations and new buildings in the Quonset Business Park.