A Small, but Mighty Fleet
Above: R/V Kilo Moana holding station in the Pacific Ocean Credit: Julianna Diehl
IN THE HEART OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN, THERE IS NO BETTER PLACE THAN THE SCHOOL OF OCEAN EARTH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (SOEST) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UH Mānoa) to operate a small, but highly capable fleet of vessels providing world-class platforms for researchers to discover the unknown, offering further insight into unmapped regions, identifying untapped resources in the depths of the world’s deepest ocean, and promoting sustainable and resilient development. At the forefront of the UH Mānoa’s oceanographic research fleet are the R/V Kilo Moana and the R/V Kaunānā, each equipped with a vast array of capabilities to help scientists investigate, innovate and collaborate.
Importance of Research Vessels
Research vessels are a vital part of oceanographic exploration as they are the go-to platform for scientists to deploy instrumentation, collect data and perform laboratory experiments. Professor Angelicque White, principal investigator for the Hawai‘i Ocean Time-series (HOT) noted, “For more than 35 years, HOT has been at the forefront of data collection and exploration in the North Pacific Ocean. The many priceless discoveries made over this time would not have been possible without the invaluable support of research vessels, especially those operated by the University of Hawai‘i.”
Emerging technologies are poised to increase the scientific capabilities of research vessels and to extend the reach of these platforms beneath the waves and beyond the horizon, including remotely operated vehicles, long-range autonomous underwater vehicles, sail drones, and wave gliders. Paul Mospens, marine operations superintendent at the University of Hawai‘i Marine Center (UH Marine Center) added, “The evolution of these ships is incredible. I come from a background of 28 years sailing on commercial shipping vessels and never did I imagine that people from all around the world could, live in real-time, see samples being collected from the seafloor.”
R/V Kilo Moana and R/V Kaunānā
The R/V Kilo Moana was built in 2001 and is operated by UH Mānoa through a charter agreement with the Office of Naval Research. The 186-foot vessel’s unique twin-hull design provides state-of-the-art ocean mapping capabilities and a stable platform to deploy unmanned remote operated vehicles up to 3.7 miles deep (6,000 meters) to collect deep-sea samples for research. The ship features over 2,500 square feet across eight different laboratories and over 4,000 square feet of exterior working space on the aft main deck and forward 01 deck. Homeported and operated out of the UH Marine Center in Honolulu, and manned by a crew of 20 and up to 24 science party members, the R/V Kilo Moana conducts oceanographic research cruises across the Pacific and throughout Hawai‘i, the West Coast of North America, Alaska, Tahiti, Samoa and everywhere in between.
“The Kilo Moana is the best ship out there for scientists to do their work,” said Eric Pomery, master of R/V Kilo Moana. “The superior stability provided (compared to single hulled vessels) is paramount when operating out of the Central Pacific and is strategically sound when looking towards other locations around the Pacific basin.”
The R/V Kaunānā is also a twin-hull design that makes it ideal for operating in the coastal waters of the main Hawaiian Islands. Coastal oceanography with a focus on monitoring and sustainability depends on reliable vessels with different capabilities from the shore to the deep sea. The 40-foot R/V Kaunānā has unique capabilities to meet research objectives near shore as a dive platform for in-water monitoring and sampling, deployment and recovery of in situ oceanographic instruments, towed array and net gear collections, and when outfitted with proper equipment, can be utilized for emergency navigational response in natural disasters such as hurricanes or tsunamis.
“R/V Kaunānā is an ideal platform for near-shore operations and has been crucial for my field testing of underwater robots and coastal installations,” said Michael Kreig, associate professor in the Department of Ocean and Resources Engineering. “The ease and versatility of the vessel to deploy small- to medium-sized equipment and to have small dive teams operate off the large transom makes seafloor installation and launch/recovery of unmanned vehicles effortless. Furthermore, the Kaunānā’s onboard complement of instrumentation and technical hardware, such as the networking capabilities and CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) water profiler, are vital to modern scientific research.”
The Future
The oceanographic research community continues to seek new technology to study the Earth’s oceans, and as such, UH vessel operators strive to be at the forefront of providing the latest and most capable platforms and instrumentation to service the scientific community. As the next generation of research vessels will soon be realized, a replacement for the R/V Kilo Moana will be required in the next couple of years.
“When making investments in vessel infrastructure it is critical to develop highly capable and adaptable technology that can be flexible and evolve when breakthroughs in scientific discoveries are made. These breakthroughs can change how researchers study our ocean environment,” said Lopez. “As operators, we are listening to our stakeholders to get ahead of these changes to ensure that we provide the best tools for the community to conduct their work now and into the future. When you build a vessel for 30 years of service, you have to have a platform that can be on the cutting edge throughout its lifetime.”
Whether it be new discoveries in the Hadal Zone, the deepest region of the ocean, or within the microstructure of the top millimeters of the ocean’s surface, UH Mānoa research vessels will continue to remain flexible and adaptable to provide the best platforms for the task, the best skilled personnel, and the best collaborative team spirit required to discover the mysteries of the oceans that surround Hawai‘i and world.