San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography has announced that naval architecture and marine engineering company Glosten has been selected as the naval architect for the university’s new California coastal research vessel.
The new vessel will be an innovation in the maritime industry with a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-hybrid propulsion system. With this selection, Glosten will provide the preliminary design, contract design, and detailed design for the research vessel to be operated by Scripps Oceanography. Glosten is a consulting firm of naval architects and marine, electrical, production, and ocean engineers with expertise in providing design and engineering support to the oceanographic research community. Glosten was selected after participating in the university's request for proposal process.
California legislators allocated $35 million towards the design and construction of this vessel last summer. When complete, the vessel will serve as a platform for education and research dedicated to understanding the California coast and climate change impacts to the coastal ecosystem.
This new vessel will continue the university’s educational mission to train the next generation of scientists, leaders, and policymakers. It is envisioned that the vessel will carry up to 45 students and teachers to sea on day trips, improving the university’s capacity for experiential learning at sea.
The new vessel will replace research vessel (R/V) Robert Gordon Sproul, which has served thousands of University of California students in its 42 years of service but is nearing completion of its service life.
The hybrid-hydrogen design of this new vessel represents an innovation in the maritime industry. Currently, emissions from diesel engines on ships contribute to greenhouse gases and pollution. Development of this and subsequent zero-emission vessels is essential to the University of California’s Carbon Neutrality Initiative, the goal to be carbon neutral by 2025.
This new vessel will feature an innovative hybrid propulsion system that integrates hydrogen fuel cells alongside a conventional diesel-electric power plant, enabling zero-emission operations. The design is scaled so the ship will be able to operate 75 percent of its missions entirely using a non-fossil fuel—hydrogen—with only pure water and electricity as reaction products. For longer missions, extra power will be provided by clean-running modern diesel generators. The vessel represents a major step in advancing California's pledge to reduce global climate risk while transitioning to a carbon-neutral economy.