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NERC Orders New Ship
01 Feb 2005
The UK Natural Environment Research Council, which has an annual budget of around £300m to fund and undertake impartial research in environmental sciences, has commissioned construction of a new £36m 5,000 tonne vessel, James Cook. To be built by Flekkefjord Slipp & Maskinfabrikk in Norway, she will replace the 20 year-old RRS Darwin for operation worldwide from the tropics to the edge of ice sheets.
Due for completion in the summer of next year and destined to become one of the most sophisticated research vessels in the world, according to NERC, James Cook will be operated by its Research Ship Unit based at Southampton Oceanography Centre.
