The Log | School News
Symbol of the Marine Lab: A Renovated R/V Cape Hattaras
is an Ideal 'Platform' for Research
by Tim Lucas
With her distinctive all-white profile
outlined against the blue sky and water of Beaufort Inlet,
the R/V Cape Hatteras has been a floating landmark
at the Duke University Marine Laboratory since 1981.
One of two oceangoing research vessels
permanently berthed at the Marine Lab, the 1135-foot Hatteras
has logged hundreds of thousands of nautical miles in the
quest for scientific knowledge, carrying more than 2,000 scientists
and students on research cruises as far north as Nova Scotia
and as far south as the Caribbean.
In the process, she’s become a widely
recognized symbol of the Marine Lab and the Duke/UNC Oceanographic
Consortium.
But after 23 years in the salty
sea air, even icons can get a little tarnished, so last year
the Hatteras began undergoing a two-year, $1.2 million renovation,
including extensive improvements to its science laboratory,
mess area and staterooms, new decking, a new paint job and
a new heating and air conditioning system. The ship will be
rewired for computer networking later this year, and a new
intercom system will be installed.
The overhaul is funded by the National
Science Foundation (NSF), which owns the ship and makes it
available to researchers through a charter agreement with
the Duke/ University of North Carolina Oceanographic Consortium,
headquartered at the Duke Marine Lab.
“The Cape Hatteras offers superb
onboard research capabilities, based on the expertise of her
officers and crew and the layout of the vessel,” says Bruce
H. Corliss, professor of earth and ocean sciences
at the Nicholas School, who serves as director of the consortium.
“She’s always been known as one
of the best research vessels on the East Coast, and these
renovations will extend her useful life for years to come,”
he says. “And, she serves excellent food.”
The ship’s versatility makes her
an ideal floating platform for a wide variety of research,
from water column studies, physical oceanography and sea floor
coring to biological studies of fisheries and marine life.
Scientists and students from universities
and research labs nationwide come to Beaufort to sail on the
Hatteras. Her presence on Pivers Island has helped promote
new research collaborations between Nicholas School faculty
and visiting scientists, Corliss says, and provides the Nicholas
School community with access to equipment, facilities and
technical expertise it might otherwise lack.
“We award four to eight days of
free ship time each year to new faculty members at Duke and
other consortium memberinstitutions,” he says. “It’s a great
resource for faculty who are just starting out and may not
yet have major grants and funding.”
The consortium is an amalgam of
Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, North Carolina State University, East Carolina University,
the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and the University
of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Smaller than many oceangoing vessels,
the Hatteras measures 135 feet long by 32 feet wide and draws
only nine feet of water at full load. At her cruising speed
of 10 knots, she has a range of nearly 7,000 nautical miles
and can stay out of port with 114 scientists and a crew of
nine aboard for as long as 21 days.
Her size, draft and maneuverability
allow her to enter waters too shallow for many other ships,
and make her especially well suited for studies in coastal
waters and along the continental shelf and slope.
“Research in these waters, which
scientists call the ocean margins, is increasingly important
because of environmental concerns such as water quality and
fisheries health,” Corliss explains. “The Cape Hatteras complements
the Nicholas School’s strong research component in these fields,
provides collaboration in education and research within the
Duke-UNC system, and is an important resource for the state
of North Carolina.”
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