FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Tara Hicks, SOEST Outreach Specialist

(808) 956-3151, cell: (808) 429-7007, hickst@hawaii.edu

Arrival of new research vessel R/V Kilo Moana

Honolulu – The R/V Kilo Moana will arrive at Pier 45 at the University of Hawaii Marine Center at 10 am, Tuesday September 3^rd, 2002. The ship will be available for media tours once immigration and customs procedures are completed.

The R/V KILO MOANA is the newest US oceanographic research vessel. The small waterplane area, twin hull (SWATH) form is designed to provide a comfortable, stable platform allowing general-purpose oceanographic research in coastal and deep ocean areas, even in high sea conditions. The ship has the speed (15 knots max; 12 knots survey), endurance (50 days), mission payload (100 LT) and range (10,000 nm) to operate throughout the Pacific and indeed globally. She departed Jacksonville on July 25^th for Navy-funded Mission Trials and State-funded transit (via the Panama Canal) to Honolulu.

The R/V KILO MOANA is operated by the University of Hawaii, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), under a Charter Party agreement with the Office of Naval Research.

More information and pictures see http://imina.soest.hawaii.edu/KiloMoana/

Contact Dr. Brian Taylor (808) 956-6649 taylor@soest.hawaii.edu