NOAA has awarded $59.8 million to Manson Construction Company to renovate the agency’s pier facility in North Charleston, South Carolina. The pier is integral to safe and efficient research ship operations in the area, with work expected to be completed in 2026. The renovations will include demolishing and building a new pier that includes shoreside power for ships, as well as a warehouse, sea wall and living shoreline, and other supporting infrastructure. Reconstruction of the pier and other facility upgrades will allow NOAA ships Ronald H.

NOAA has awarded three Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts to five small business manufacturers of uncrewed marine systems with a potential combined value of $22.5 million. IDIQ contracts allow the agency to streamline the processing and delivery of commercial products and services from industry vendors.

Nautical charts that help keep mariners safe. Data to inform commercial and recreational fishing. Never before seen species found deep in the ocean. Ensuring safe shipping routes so ports can reopen following a storm.

NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations will hold two hiring events in New England in September to recruit professional mariners to work aboard NOAA’s ocean research ships. The first event will be in Fairhaven, Massachusetts on Sept. 26 and the second in Warwick, Rhode Island on Sept. 28.

Qualified applicants may receive a tentative job offer.

The NOAA Hurricane Hunters are flying round-the-clock missions to collect data on Hurricane Lee for forecasts and research. NOAA’s two WP-3D Orions are currently operating out of St. Croix.

Federal, tribal, state and local officials joined NOAA leadership on Aug. 21 to cut the ribbon on the agency’s newly renovated port facility in Ketchikan, Alaska. The celebration was held to dedicate the facility and recognize the important partnerships in the area. The facility will provide vessel support for NOAA research ships.

NOAA will add two new ships to its fleet of groundbreaking research vessels. The agency selected Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors, LLC. for a $624.6 million contract to initially design and build two cutting-edge research vessels, with an option to purchase two more. The first two ships will be built in Houma, Louisiana, with an expected delivery date of 2027 and 2028. Learn more here.

Uncrewed aircraft and marine systems have great potential to enhance and expand the ways that NOAA meets its mission to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, ocean and coasts.

The NOAA Uncrewed Systems Operations Center has selected nine projects that use private-sector operated uncrewed marine systems in an innovative partnership to collect data for NOAA missions. In total, $7.5 million will be allocated in fiscal year 2023.

Uncrewed systems can serve a unique role as companion to traditional crewed methods and allow NOAA to efficiently gather data that was not always accessible before.

The NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations deployed its Gulfstream IV-SP research jet to Hawaii in December to gather data on atmospheric rivers to help forecasters and water managers on the West Coast. The data collected by the aircraft is crucial to giving forecasters, water managers, and the public up to five days advance notice of the precipitation headed their way, and helps protect lives and property.