b'MEMBER NEWSMEMBER NEWS Thoma-Sea Awarded NOAA Contractfor Two New Research VesselsT heNationalOceanograph- awardedPVAmembershipbuilderdesignandbuildtwoadvancedre-icandAtmosphericAd- Thoma-SeaMarineConstructorssearch vessels. The contract includes ministration(NOAA)hasLLCa$624.6millioncontracttoan option for two more vessels with the first two ships expected to be de-livered in 2027 and 2028.Thoma-Sea is currently constructing two vessels for NOAA which are slat-ed for delivery in 2025 and 2026.Thenewshipswillfocusonocean mapping and nautical charting as part ofNOAAsmissiontodelivertools and information to help ships safely navigate U.S. ports and harbors, but willhaveadditionalcapabilitiesto help assess and manage living marine resources and collect data for ocean-ographicmonitoring,researchand modeling activities.Thisoriginalrequestforproposals stated that to meet its requirements, the new ships must have the capa-bilitytocarry,deploy,andrecover multiplecrewedanduncrewedves-sels to support nautical charting and seafloor survey missions. They must also be able to accommodate 48 peo-ple, consisting of commissioned offi-cers, professional civilian crew mem-bers, scientists and other personnel. NOAAhassetagoalofachieving net-zeroemissionsforitsshipfleet by2050.TosupportNOAAsgoal ofreducingtheagencyscarbon footprint,thenewshipsmustin-corporatethelatesttechnologies, includinghigh-efficiency,environ-mentally-friendly EPA Tier IV diesel engines and emissions controls.FOGHORN 44'