The Kaharoa II control room. Photo: NIWA
Evironment and ocean research work in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands will be boosted with a new multi-million dollar vessel.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, or NIWA, has taken delivery of the brand-new research vessel, Kaharoa II.
The state-of-the-art €16 million vessel will be used to expand research work in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
NIWA says the vessel is equipped with the latest technology and equipment that would help in getting better research results.
The vessel spent 83 days sailing from Astilleros Armon shipyard in northern Spain, where it was built.
Kaharoa II replaces its predecessor Kaharoa, which is more than 40 years old and nearing the end of its working life with NIWA.
It was immediately put to work on its maiden voyage, deploying Argo ocean temperature and salinity monitoring floats across the Atlantic and the western Pacific as it sailed down to New Zealand.
NIWA chief executive John Morgan said Kaharoa II will help meet New Zealand's and the Pacific Islands' fisheries, oceanography, and maritime research needs.
"As an island nation, we have a strong cultural, environmental, and economic connection to the ocean, with NIWA's work playing a key role in our understanding and management of it," he said.
"This new vessel represents a significant investment in essential New Zealand science capability and underpins our strengths in ocean science. It will support cost-effective, safe, and more environmentally friendly research of the highest quality."
Kaharoa II Wellington arrival Photo: Caroline Beamish / NIWA
NIWA chief scientist (fisheries) Dr Richard O'Driscoll said the vessel and technology it has will transform NIWA's work.
"Kaharoa II is a next generation research vessel that will allow us to do more great science," he said.
"It also has 35 days' endurance, with a 6500 nautical mile range, meaning we will be able to go further for longer, from inshore studies to the deep oceans."
Kaharoa II was designed by the Norwegian naval architects Skipsteknisk, who specialise in research and fisheries vessels.
NIWA manager marine resources, and director of the project Rob Christie said the team in Spain were extremely professional and worked hard to satisfy NIWA's exacting standards.
"Overseeing the construction of a new research vessel is a rare privilege," he said.
"The trick is to have an extensive support network, a knowledgeable team, and governance who understand the complexity, risks, and end goal. We had all three."
Christie said Kaharoa II has been equipped with the latest technologies, and is quieter under the water, causing less disturbance to the environment.
It is eight metres longer and more comfortable than its predecessor, with increased laboratory and deck space that can accommodate six crew members and up to nine scientists.
Kaharoa II will deploy and maintain the New Zealand Tsunami detection network, maintain long-term fisheries surveys in country and in the Pacific region, and continue NIWA's critical contribution to the international Argo programme, which deploys floats throughout the world's oceans to measure water conditions for marine and atmospheric research.
NIWA said the old Kaharoa has deployed about one-quarter of all the Argo floats globally - far more than any other vessel, and Kaharoa II will continue this legacy.
The vessel will be involved in the collection of underwater imagery of the seafloor biodiversity, habitats and fish in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park later this month.