 |
| NOAA Ship NANCY FOSTER | credit: NOAA |
In December 2023, the U.S. Navy, on behalf of NOAA, awarded $146,778,932 to Skanska USA, from New York, to design and build a new NOAA facility on Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island.
This facility will eventually be the new home of NOAA’s Marine Operations Center - Atlantic.
While the details of the facility’s design are still being finalized, requirements include having a pier that will accommodate four large vessels, a floating dock for smaller vessels, space for vessel repairs and parking and a building to be used for shoreside support and as a warehouse. Construction is anticipated to be completed by 2027.
The contract to design and build the new NOAA facility was awarded following a request for proposals that was open from January to August 2023.
The design and construction of the facility is funded in part by the Inflation Reduction Act. Funding supports community efforts to prepare, adapt and build resilience to weather and climate events.
The act also supports improvements to weather and climate data and services, and NOAA’s fleet of research airplanes and ships.
“By co-locating with Naval Station Newport, we are able to make our ship operations more efficient and increase long-term cost savings through sharing common capabilities,” said NOAA Corps Rear Admiral Nancy Hann, director of NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations and the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps.
NOAA’s fleet of 15 research and survey ships are operated, managed and maintained by NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations. The fleet supports a wide range of marine activities, including fisheries surveys, nautical charting and ocean and climate studies.
Two of NOAA's most important research vessels are based out of Newport, Rhode Island:
NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow is a fisheries survey vessel built specifically for NOAA to support the study and monitoring of marine fisheries and marine mammals. Henry B. Bigelow operates along the northeast and mid-Atlantic coast, from Maine to North Carolina.
source: NOAA
