Michigan Tech is presently awaiting delivery of a new vessel supporting the university's education and research mission on Lake Superior. We are under contract for construction of a custom-built, aluminum-hulled vessel 36 feet in length with an 11 foot beam. Powered by twin 200 hp Volvo diesel engines, the vessel will have a top speed of 25 mph and a cruising radius of 250 miles. The boat will be designed, constructed, inspected and outfitted for use on the open waters of Lake Superior day and night and at all seasons of the year.

Approximately two-thirds of the hull will be devoted to open deck space, equipped with dual winch and davit systems for deployment of mechanical and computer-aided sampling and measurement devices. A removable 10-meter mast will support air quality sampling at the water's surface and at elevation.

The cabin will be equipped with state-of-the-art electronics featuring compass, radio, cell phone and an integrated Furuno navigation system (depth, GPS, radar and electronic plotting). A scientist's station in the pilot house will house computing equipment, linked through the bulkhead to deployable sampling devices. Below decks, a cuddy cabin will provide room for a head and equipment storage.

The boat will accommodate a pilot, deck hand and 18 guests for class trips and on the order of 6 scientists, gear and samples for research work. We have provisionally named the vessel the R/V Aggasiz in honor of Louis and Alexander Agassiz, father and son, natural scientist and civil engineer, with close ties to Lake Superior and the Copper Country in the 19^th Century.

The builder, Winninghoff Boats of Rowley, Massachusetts, has constructed similar vessels for the Sate of Connecticut, the University of Maine, Michigan State University, Rutgers University and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Winninghoff products were recently featured in an article on the 'aluminum revolution' published in Soundings.

Funding for the project has been provided by the MTU-NSF KITES Project and a consortium of campus units including the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, the Department of Biological Sciences, the College of Engineering, Office of the Vice President for Research, the Remote Sensing Institute, the College of Arts & Sciences, the Department of Chemistry, the Department of Geological Engineering & Sciences, and the School of Forestry & Wood Products, with support from the Century II Campaign Endowed Equipment Fund.


Boat structure.


Link to Winninghoff Boats, Inc. and more photos of research vessels

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