♫MUSIC♫
MILES O'BRIEN: With a slide and
splash, the Research Vessel,
Sikuliaq, took to the water on a
wet and windy day. But for the
scientists itching to explore
the Arctic seas off the coast of
Alaska, it was all sunny smiles.
MICHAEL CASTELLINI: Just an
amazing day. It's been so long
in the making and to actually
see it go in the water
was just phenomenal.
MILES O'BRIEN: Working with the
National Science Foundation,
Dean Michael Castellini and
other scientists from the
University of Alaska Fairbanks,
are overseeing the Sikuliaq's
construction at the Marinette
Marine Shipyard in Wisconsin.
The 261-foot long ship is
designed to move through ice and
will be outfitted with the
latest navigation and mapping
technology, laboratories, sensor
systems and over the side
handling cranes. Fourteen years
in the planning and construction
stages, it is the
brain-child of the
oceanographer Terry Whitledge.
TERRY WHITLEDGE: The mission of
this vessel is basically to
support state of the art science
in polar regions, especially
ice covered seas.
MILES O'BRIEN: Sikuliaq is
an Inupiaq word meaning
"young sea ice."
MICHAEL CASTELLINI: The
Sikuliaq is perfectly, the
perfect vessel for working in
the pack ice, the ice that
breaks up and moves around. And
for working in ice that's a
couple feet thick.
MILES O'BRIEN: The nearly $200
million ship is funded largely
by the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act.
TERRY WHITLEDGE: It was the
first project out the door as I
understand it for the stimulus
funds. And since the package was
ready and it was a single
contract for the construction,
it was like perfect for stimulus
type funding.
MILES O'BRIEN: Marinette
Marine's Chuck Goddard says the
project is employing area
welders, pipe fitters,
electricians and others in the
ship building trade.
CHUCK GODDARD: It will take us
about two and a half years from
the time we started the
fabrication to actually get the
ship and deliver it. In that
timeframe, typically there'd be
between 100 and 200 people
onboard. We employ 1,400 people
here at the shipyard so it's a
sizeable part of our workforce.
MILES O'BRIEN: Now that the
ship is in the water, the build
out continues. The science can't
start soon enough for Whitledge.
TERRY WHITLEDGE: We are
actually trying to still
understand the basic makeup of
the Alaskan ecosystem. There's
also an element of concern about
the number of fisheries
resources that we have and our
harvest. Global climate change
and what it's doing to
the biological resources
such as fisheries.
MILES O'BRIEN: A voyage of
discovery to do science on ice.
An idea worth building
on. For Science Nation,
I'm Miles O'Brien.
