RV Investigator

{{Short description|Australian marine research vessel}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}

{{Infobox ship begin}} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = CSIRO ScienceImage 2363 RV Investigator side view.jpg | Ship caption = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = Australia | Ship flag = {{Shipboxflag|Australia}} | Ship name = Investigator | Ship owner = Marine National Facility | Ship operator = CSIRO | Ship namesake = HMS Investigator | Ship ordered = 2011 | Ship designer = RALion (Robert Allan Ltd and Alion Science and Technology), USA and Canada | Ship builder = Teekay Holdings Australia P/L, Sembawang Shipyard, Singapore | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship acquired = September 2014 | Ship commissioned = 12 December 2014 | Ship decommissioned = | Ship homeport = Hobart, Tasmania | Ship identification = *{{IMO Number|9616888}} {{MMSI Number|503791000}} Callsign: VLMJ | Lloyds Classification = +100A1, Research Vessel, *IWS, EP ( I, O, P), Ice Class 1C, +LMC, UMS, DP(AM), ShipRight, IHM, SERS, DNV Silent R | Ship in service = From 2014 | Ship out of service = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship fate = | Ship status = Active | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = Oceanographic research ship | Ship tonnage = 6082 GT, 1824 NT | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|93.9|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|18.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship draught = {{convert|6.2|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship depth = {{convert|9.45|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship propulsion = Diesel Electric incorporating 3 x 9 Cylinder Diesel MaK 9M25C Generators (3000 kW each), 2 reversible electric propulsion motors (2600 kW each) driving two slow-speed fixed-pitch propellers, 1 electric retractable azimuth bow thruster (1200 kW). | Ship speed = 12kts | Ship range = {{convert|10,000|nmi|km}}, 60 days | Ship complement = 18-20 crew, up to 40 scientists | Ship armament = | Ship notes = Technical and Crew Managers : MMA Offshore Ltd. }}

RV Investigator is an Australian marine research vessel which was designed by RALion (joint venture between Robert Allan Ltd. and Alion Science and Technology). It was constructed in Singapore and is owned and managed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), through Australia's Marine National Facility,{{cite web |url=http://www.marine.csiro.au/nationalfacility/about/index.htm |title= About the Marine National Facility |website= - CSIRO|accessdate=9 September 2014}} with its operations funded by the Australian Government to undertake oceanographic, geoscience, ecosystem and fisheries research. In May 2009 the Australian Government allocated A$120 million for a new ocean-going research vessel to replace the 1972 built RV Southern Surveyor, which has served as the principal research ship for Australia's Marine National Facility since 1988. RV Investigator was transferred from Sembawang Shipyard to the delivery crew on 5 August 2014 for pre-departure testing and setup. The vessel arrived at its home port of Hobart on 9 September 2014{{cite web | url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-09/csiro-rv-investigator-arrives-at-its-new-home-in-hobart/5729240 | title=New CSIRO research vessel RV Investigator arrives in Hobart after two-week voyage | publisher= - Australian Broadcasting Corporation - 10 September 2014 | accessdate=27 September 2014}} and was officially launched on 12 December 2014.{{cite web | url= http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-12/investigator-ready-for-maiden-voyage-launch-hobart/5962788| title= Scientists laud $120m research ship Investigator, ready for maiden voyage|publisher= - Australian Broadcasting Corporation - 12 December 2014 | accessdate=12 December 2014}}

== Specifications ==

The RV Investigator is able to accommodate up to 40 scientists, go to sea for up to 60 days at a time and spend up to 300 days of the year at sea on research voyages. Operating costs are estimated to be $140,000 per day. Special features of the ship are a "gondola", similar to a winged keel, mounted 1.2 m below the hull, and two drop keels (which can be lowered to a maximum of 4m below the hull), to carry scientific instruments below the layer of microbubbles created by the movement of the ship’s hull through the water. Such instrumentation includes acoustic mappers, a pelagic sediment profiler to produce maps of the sea floor, and 2 Acoustic Doppler current profilers. The hull and the machinery of the ship have been designed to operate as quietly as possible to enhance its scientific capabilities.{{cite journal |author1=Griffiths, Brian |author2=Sabto, Michele |name-list-style=amp |date=25 June 2012 |title=Quiet on board please: science underway |journal=ECOS |issue=172 |url=http://www.ecosmagazine.com/paper/EC12330.htm }}