Keel laying ceremony for the R/V Sikuliaq set

March 28, 2011

University Relations

A  keel-laying ceremony for the R/V Sikuliaq will take place Monday, April 11, 2011 at the Marinette Marine Corporation, 1600 Ely Street, Marinette, Wis.



The Sikuliaq, pronounced , will be a 261-foot oceanographic research ship capable of transporting scientists to the ice-choked waters of Alaska and the polar regions. When complete, the vessel will be one of the most advanced university research vessels in the world and will be able to break ice up to 2.5 feet thick. Currently under construction at Marinette Marine Corporation, a shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin, the Sikuliaq will be ready for unrestricted science operations in 2014. Its home port will be UAF's Seward Marine Center in Seward.

The vessel will be owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by UAF as part of the U.S. academic research fleet. It will be used by scientists in the U.S. and international oceanographic community through the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System.