RV ''Tangaroa'' is a

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

operated by the

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research or NIWA ( mi, Taihoro Nukurangi), is a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand. Established in 1992, NIWA conducts research across a broad range of disciplines in the environmental scien ...

(NIWA) of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It was purpose-built as a Deepwater Research Vessel for the then Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Research Centre at a cost of $27 million to replace the ageing GRV ''James Cook''. It has a

DNV DNV (formerly DNV GL) is an international accredited registrar and classification society headquartered in Høvik, Norway. The company currently has about 12,000 employees and 350 offices operating in more than 100 countries, and provides serv ...

classification of 1A1 (stern trawler) and Ice 1C (sufficient strength and power to operate in ice floes up to thick). It was transferred to the new National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in 1992. ''Tangaroa'' operates for 320 to 340 days per year conducting fisheries research in New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone and marine research in the waters surrounding

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

. It is equipped for hydrographic, bathymetric and oceanographic surveys to measure and map various properties of the ocean and seabed; biological surveys; and for both acoustic and trawl fisheries surveys. It can trawl to and conduct acoustic soundings down to . In 2010 ''Tangaroa'' received a $20 million upgrade including a dynamic positioning system. This allows the ship to "automatically maintain a vessel in a fixed position at sea (within a few metres) by using its own propellers and thrusters". NIWA defended contracting the work to a Singapore dockyard to do the work instead of using the

Devonport Naval Base Devonport Naval Base is the home of the Royal New Zealand Navy, located at Devonport, New Zealand on Auckland's North Shore. It is currently the only base of the navy that operates ships, and has been in use as a navy base since 1841. The b ...

Dockyard. On one voyage in 2003, scientists aboard RV ''Tangaroa'' discovered over 500 species of fish and 1,300 species of invertebrate, and the tooth of an extinct

megalodon Megalodon (''Otodus megalodon''), meaning "big tooth", is an extinct species of mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago (Mya), from the Early Miocene to the Pliocene epochs. It was formerly thought to be a membe ...

. In October–November 2016, a collaborative team of researchers on ''Tangaroa'' from

Auckland Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira (or simply the Auckland Museum) is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its collections concentrate on New Zealand history (and especially the history of the Auckla ...

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

, NIWA and the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

undertook research around

Kermadec Islands The Kermadec Islands ( mi, Rangitāhua) are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand. They are in total are ...

. The multi-disciplinary team investigated the biodiversity of organisms living on the ocean floor and at midwater. The marine mammal populations were examined to determine what animal and plant species are shared between mainland New Zealand and the Kermadec region. Following the November

2016 Kaikōura earthquake The 2016 Kaikoura earthquake was a magnitude 7.8 (Mw) earthquake in the South Island of New Zealand that occurred two minutes after midnight on 14 November 2016 NZDT (11:02 on 13 November UTC). Ruptures occurred on multiple faults and the e ...

, the ship was diverted to collect seafloor shallow cores between 14 and 19 November across and along the submarine ''Kaikoura Canyon''.

Andrew Leachman Andrew Leachman (6 April 1945 – 16 September 2017) was a master mariner with more than 55 years of seagoing experience. He captained New Zealand's research vessel ''Tangaroa'' for more than 20 years. He was posthumously awarded the New Ze ...

served as the ship's first captain for more than twenty years, bringing the ship to New Zealand from Norway, and taking it as far north as

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

and as far south as Antarctica.

References

* ''RV Tangaroa: purpose-built deepwater research vessel'', NIWA, 1995. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tangaroa Ships built in Bergen Research vessels of New Zealand 1991 ships

See also

References