New Brazilian oceanographic ship is on the way

Alpha Crucis, the Brazilian oceanographic ship, is on its way to Brazil. After undergoing renovation for the last 10 months in Seattle, Washington (U.S.A.), the ship set sail on March 30 and is slated to reach the Port of Santos on May 10.

By Fábio de Castro

Agência FAPESP – Alpha Crucis, the Brazilian oceanographic ship, is on its way to Brazil. After undergoing renovation for the last 10 months in Seattle, Washington (U.S.A.), the ship set sail on March 30 and is slated to reach the Port of Santos on May 10.

FAPESP acquired the ship for the University of São Paulo (USP), which will also be responsible for maintenance and management of the ship. The acquisition is part of the project to increase research capacity that USP’s Oceanographic Institute (IO-USP) submitted to FAPESP under the auspices of the Foundation’s Multi-User Equipment Program.

According to the IO-USP Director, Michel Michaelovitch Mahiques, the ship will increase Brazil’s oceanographic research capacity to an unprecedented level. The country has not had a civil oceanographic ship in operation since 2008, when the Professor W. Besnard, utilized since 1967, caught fire and was no longer suitable for research.

“Alpha Crucis will afford an immense qualitative leap in oceanographic research. One reason for this is that the ship has the capacity to navigate for 40 days, while the Professor Besnard’s autonomy was limited to 15 days. This means that the new ship can conduct studies in the open sea, broadening our geographic research horizons,” Mahiques explained in an interview with Agência FAPESP.

In addition to greater capacity, the Alpha Crucis has equipment that was not available on the Professor Besnard, which broadens the array of research possibilities. “Some of this equipment will facilitate studies on shoals, mapping of the seabed, measurement of currents, for example, which were previously impossible. The research potential is much greater,” says Mahiques.

With the new ship, it will also be possible to operate a small submarine-type remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Alpha Crucis will also broaden the research capacity for strictly oceanographic studies.

Projects linked to the BIOTA-FAPESP Program and the FAPESP Global Climate Change Research Program will be given priority. “On the Professor Besnard, it was very difficult to conduct studies on the diversity of deep water organisms, for example,” says Mahiques.

Alpha Crucis, which was previously named Moana Wave and belonged to Hawaii University, is 64 meters long by 11 meters wide. The ship has the capacity to carry 20 people and move 972 tons. The total cost of the ship, including its refurbishment, was US$11 million.

In the last 10 months, several reforms and modifications were conducted on the ship at the shipyard where it is stationed in Seattle. “The renovation had two veins. One covered the necessary adaptations for the ship, manufactured in 1973, to meet existing Brazilian safety laws. The second focused on modernizing the ship, meeting the scientific research demands,” he said.

Compliance with current legislations required that several walls be replaced, along with material from the lining and the floor. All wood furnishings were replaced with metal, and new safety equipment was installed. The modernization included renovations of all laboratories onboard, in addition to installation of new elements at the command center, new winches and new scientific equipment.

“Alpha Crucis is solidly ready to operate. However, when it docks in Santos, it will still have to undergo the nationalization process at customs. Afterwards, the bureaucratic transferal of ownership from FAPESP to USP will occur. By July, the ship will be ready to operate,” explains Mahiques.

Dynamic positioning

Acoustic current profilers, seabed mapping systems—one known as a multibeam ecosounder—subsurface mapping systems, which make it possible to study layers below the sea and acoustic shoal measuring systems were installed on the ship.

“One of the most important was the installation of a dynamic positioning system. Although it is not research equipment, it is a navigation instrument that will improve the quality of the data,” says Mahiques.

The dynamic positioning system, which includes sensors linked to propellers on the bow and an independent helm system, allows the ship to continuously and automatically adjust its position to hold the same point in the ocean.

“When we began an oceanographic station with the Professor Besnard, the wind and current continuously shifted the ship. When we needed to stay at a station for a long time, this required constant maneuvering to return to the same spot. With dynamic positioning, the ship is automatically stopped in one place, guaranteeing that there are no shifts and making data more reliable,” explains Mahiques.

Use of the ship will not be restricted to IO-USP researchers, but will be shared with research projects from other USP units and other institutions.

“At FAPESP’s request, we created a steering committee which receives the demands for utilization. In addition to organizing the ship’s calendar, the committee is responsible for managing the ship, stipulating demands and optimizing time of use,” explains Mahiques.

The ship maintenance and operation costs will be covered by USP. “It is difficult to forecast the values because the main component of the operating costs is fuel, but many projects include supplying oil from other partners. Nevertheless, there are significant fixed costs. The main one is insurance, which costs US$ 400,000 per year,” he said.

The ship’s crew, paid by USP, is in large part the same that operated the Professor Besnard. “The greater majority has vast experience in oceanographic work,” he explained.

Professor Besnard

The fate of the Professor Besnard has been a concern because USP does not have the financial resources to maintain two ships. “In informal conversations, the City of Santos has shown interest in transforming it into a maritime museum. However, unfortunately, there has not been a formal request for donation,” comments Mahiques.

The situation is worrisome because currently, the Professor Besnard is anchored in front of Warehouse 8 at the Port of Santos, precisely in the spot where the Alpha Crucis will be docked. IO-USP is requesting that the city cede Warehouse 8 for creation of an oceanographic base. If the matter is not rapidly resolved, Professor Besnard will need to be sunk.

“Without a formal request for donation of the Professor Besnard for a specific purpose, we will not have another alternative and will conduct a controlled sinking and to turn it into an artificial reef for research purposes. However, this would be a very sad option for all of us because the Professor Besnard is the first Brazilian oceanographic ship and has an invaluable historical significance,” Mahiques affirms.

In addition to the Alpha Crucis, the increased oceanographic research capacity included the Alpha Delfini, the first oceanographic ship that was entirely built in Brazil. The ship had its construction initiated in August 2011 at Inace shipyard in Fortaleza (Ceara) and was also acquired through FAPESP funding under the Multiuser Equipment Program.

“Alpha Delfini will be 25 meters long and have an autonomy of 10 to 15 days. The construction is advanced and the ship should be operation-ready in the second half of 2012,” explains Mahiques.