Seward waits for Sikuliaq: Arctic research ship first of its kind.

• Author: Hollander, Zaz
• Position: FISHERIES

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Usually, the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Seward Marine Center bustles with scientific inquiry into oceangoing topics like red tide, salmon survival, or crab reproduction.

But the subject of intense study at the center these days is a 261-foot, Arctic-ready marvel of steel known as the R/V Sikuliaq.

The research vessel will be the first large, ice-capable research vessel owned by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and a valuable addition to the US Academic Re search Fleet as the scientific community probes the consequences of receding ice brought on by climate change.

The Sikuliaq, built in a Marinette, Wisconsin, shipyard, is scheduled to get underway for Alaska this fall, traveling up the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Atlantic Ocean, and then south through the Panama Canal and the Pacific Ocean to the Bering Sea. Along the way, the ship's crew of twenty licensed mariners and two marine technicians will put her through sea and ice tests.

UAF will operate the vessel, which should arrive in Seward by next summer.

The Sikuliaq is uniquely equipped for operating in ice-choked waters, according to the university. A reinforced double hull, two rotating thrusters, and scalloped propeller blades will enable the ship to break through ice up to two and a half feet thick.

The ship is designed to work safely in moderate seasonal first-year ice, operating over a longer period than formerly possible in the North Pacific, Gulf of Alaska, and the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas.

Sikuliaq will enable researchers to study all things climate change--ocean acidification, future traffic routes in an ice-reduced north, and new migration routes from crabs and other bottom-dwellers showing up farther north than ever.

"And a fair amount of basic exploration of the Arctic as it starts to open up more and more," says Daniel Oliver, UAF's director and project manager at the university's Seward Marine Center. "It really is an area that's not as well understood ... as say, the other areas in the world's oceans."

Busy in Seward

At the Seward Marine Center, Oliver spent a sunny June day busy finalizing hiring contracts for a chief mate and an electrician. He chipped away at a couple of periodic reports that were due to the NSF.

The Seward Marine Center serves as the primary coastal facility of the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. The center is the only university-owned marine station in Alaska and the northernmost university...