The U.S. has over three million square nautical miles of coastal ocean floor in a constant state of change. Constantly surveying that seabed, to maintain safe navigation and protect coastal areas, is a huge challenge. Charts for some areas still rely on water depth measurements taken 70 years ago – or even earlier. Fortunately, a new vessel is a major step closer to helping NOAA meet the challenges.
NOAA’s newest ocean and coastal mapping vessel, Ferdinand R Hassler, was lowered into the water in Moss Point, Mississippi, on September 19. The 124-foot vessel and its crew of 14 will make the Isle of Shoals its first priority. Commander Benjamin Evans says the last mapping off the Shoals was done before 1930 using lead lines — well before sonar and other technologies were developed. Its first project area — expected to keep the ship busy until November — encompasses Hampton Harbor north to Cape Nettick, Maine.
Named after one of history’s greatest surveyors and first superintendent of Coast Survey, Hassler will collect hydrographic data used to update NOAA’s suite of nautical charts –“road maps” for mariners. Hassler will also collect additional data to support federal, state, and local efforts in habitat characterization and in coastal and marine planning.
Hassler will be homeported in New Hampshire. She joins three large survey ships, a Chesapeake Bay research vessel, and six navigation response teams in charting America’s oceans coasts and the Great Lakes. Together, the crews support a marine transportation system that contributes billions of dollars annually to the nation’s economy. The survey data also provides an essential foundation in the global discussion over climate change mitigation and adaption.
