NOAA has awarded a contract worth $99,637,544 to JAG Ketchikan, LLC, based in Ketchikan, Alaska, to carry out extensive upgrades and maintenance on NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow. Once the ship completes its 2027 field season, it will enter a 14-month maintenance period for the work to be completed.
The Bigelow is one of 15 research vessels in NOAA’s fleet. The ship’s primary mission is to study and track fish populations along the U.S. East Coast, while also examining a broad range of marine life and ocean conditions.
NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs, Ph.D., emphasized the importance of the vessel to the agency’s work. “NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow is a vital part of NOAA’s fleet,” he said. “These critical improvements to the Bigelow will allow NOAA to meet our mission, improve our surveys, and continue to ensure responsible, science-based management of our nation’s world-class fisheries.”
NOAA has made long-term maintenance planning and vessel tracking a priority, with the goal of keeping its ships up-to-date and dependable for scientists and research partners.
Rear Adm. Chad M. Cary, NOAA Corps director and assistant administrator for NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations, highlighted the broader benefits of the investment. “Modernizing the shipboard technology will improve the Bigelow’s efficiency and operational safety, while ensuring that future research performed by the ship continues to be cutting edge,” he said. “By investing in these upgrades, we are investing in the future of NOAA’s science missions along the U.S. East Coast.”
Among the planned improvements is a new propulsion system featuring variable speed Tier 4 generators, along with lighter and more efficient motors. The maintenance work will also replace pumps, fans, cranes, the fire detection system, and radars. Additionally, the number of single-person staterooms aboard the ship will be increased. NOAA expects the Bigelow to be ready for deployment by the 2029 field season.
To keep scientific operations running during the Bigelow’s absence, NOAA has already begun adjusting other vessels in its fleet. NOAA Ship Pisces was recently outfitted to conduct bottom trawling operations that the Bigelow typically handles, ensuring that East Coast data collection continues without interruption.
The Henry B. Bigelow was commissioned in 2007 and is homeported in Newport, Rhode Island. In addition to its fish stock monitoring mission in the North Atlantic, the vessel conducts habitat assessments and surveys populations of marine mammals and seabirds from Maine to North Carolina.
NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations oversees a fleet of 15 vessels used for hydrographic surveys, oceanographic research, and fisheries studies. The ships operate both domestically and internationally and are crewed by a mix of NOAA commissioned officers and civilian professional mariners.
