Sikuliaq visiting Hawaii to support research efforts

The Seward-based research vessel Sikuliaq will be spending this winter in the tropics.

The only ice-capable vessel in the U.S. academic research fleet arrived in Hawaii on Saturday, where it will operate for the next five months. The detour is part of an effort to help with projects in the region while other vessels are busy or undergoing repairs. 

Doug Baird, the marine superintendent at the Seward Marine Center, said such cooperation is common among the research fleet. “We’re basically pinch-hitting for other vessels,” he said.

The Sikuliaq, which is owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, typically spends the fall and winter in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. The ship is designed to navigate frigid waters, including the capability to break through sea ice up to 2.5 feet thick.

But until early April 2025, the Sikuliaq’s primary port will instead be Honolulu. The research vessel will host oceanographers studying how waves influence subsurface mixing, as well as a project examining the geomagnetic field of the seafloor known as the Jurassic Quiet Zone. Work after the new year will include the Hawaii Ocean Time-Series project, a long-term effort to monitor oceanographic conditions in the region. Crew members will also calibrate instruments and schedule annual maintenance. 

The Hawaii-based research vessel Kilo Moana is spending much of the winter in drydock during an extended round of maintenance and repairs, creating an opening for the Sikuliaq and its crew to backfill those research projects. Other research vessels that could do the work had already been scheduled for other research projects and were not available.

The Sikuliaq is capable of operating around the world as a global-class research vessel, and this isn’t the ship’s first visit to warmer climates. Since beginning operations nine years ago, cruises have included a previous trip to Hawaii and work near Mexico and Guam.

The ship did need to make one significant upgrade for this Hawaii trip: The air conditioning system was repaired earlier this year in preparation for the warm-water work.

“It’s easy to cool a ship down when the water you’re in is below 50 degrees,” Baird said. “We didn’t have to worry about it until now.”

ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Doug Baird, ddbaird2@alaska.edu

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