The following is text of a news release from Gulf Island Fabrication:
(HOUSTON) — Gulf Island Fabrication Inc. announced Monday that through its Shipyard Division, it has received a contract modification for construction of a second regional class research vessel (RCRV) for Oregon State University. The first vessel was awarded in July 2017 and included options for two additional vessels.
These state-of-the-art ships will be highly flexible, multi-mission platforms that maximize energy-efficient design concepts. The vessels will be built in Houma, La. These vessels will be ABS Ice class C0 and DPS-1, Green Marine-certified, acoustically quiet, and carry up to 29 crew and embarked scientists per vessel. Revenue and man-hour backlog associated with this award will be included in the second quarter's report.
"We are very pleased that OSU has exercised their first option for the second RCRV," said Kirk Meche, president and CEO of Gulf Island. "Our shipyard team and the OSU team have been working very closely since the first vessel contract award back in July of last year and we look forward to continuing these efforts with the second vessel."
"OSU has enjoyed working with Gulf Island Shipyards over the last several months on the first vessel and we are excited to move forward with the second vessel," said Dr. Roberta Marinelli, dean of OSU's College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. "We are also looking forward to delivering the nation's newest class of oceanographic research ships to the National Science Foundation and the ocean science community. Gulf Island's reputation for quality work and customer service are a perfect fit for this important project."
For more information about the RCRV program, click here.