Chilean shipbuilder ASENAV has won a contract from the University of California San Diego to build a 38-metre battery-hybrid research vessel for Scripps Institution of Oceanography, with delivery set for July 2028, according to Glosten.
The NB 201 newbuilding will be constructed, tested and delivered from ASENAV’s yard in Valdivia, Chile, under a design led by US naval architecture and marine engineering consultancy Glosten.
The vessel will be based in San Diego and operate within the US Academic Research Fleet, replacing R/V Robert Gordon Sproul after more than four decades of service to Scripps and University of California researchers and students. The 10.2-metre-wide monohull will have a draught of 3 metres. Its propulsion arrangement will combine two azimuthing L-drive stern thrusters, a bow thruster and battery-hybrid power.
The vessel is expected to operate for more than 200 days a year and support up to 55 scientific missions. It will accommodate as many as 20 crew, scientists and students on voyages lasting up to 11 days, while one-day educational sailings could carry up to 40 students.
The operating profile includes a transit speed of 10 knots, an 8-knot survey speed and towing at 2 knots. Dynamic positioning will provide station-keeping during research operations. Scientific equipment will include multibeam and sub-bottom systems, acoustic Doppler current profilers, midwater imaging sonars and systems for tracking autonomous underwater vehicles. Cranes, winches and an A-frame will support instrument deployment to depths of up to 4,000 metres. Glosten subsidiary Noise Control Engineering will oversee airborne and underwater noise analysis.
The vessel must meet requirements covering speed, range, electrical power quality, exhaust emissions and underwater radiated noise at survey speeds of between 1 and 10 knots. It will be built to American Bureau of Shipping class requirements and US Coast Guard regulations.
ASENAV, formally Astilleros y Servicios Navales, is a privately owned Chilean shipbuilder founded in 1974 after naval architect and mechanical engineer Eberhard Kossmann established the yard in 1972. The company says it has delivered about 200 vessels.
Glosten is a US marine engineering and naval architecture consultancy. Noise Control Engineering is its acoustics and vibration subsidiary.