Photo courtesy of NOAA
Groundbreaking ceremony for NOAA Marine Operations Center-Atlantic on May 6, 2024.
The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new facility on Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island. The complex will serve as the future home of the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Atlantic.
Seapower, a magazine published by the Navy League of the United States, reported that the Navy, on behalf of NOAA, awarded nearly $146.8 million to Skanska USA to build the new facility.
The Navy League is a 122-year-old organization that supports the country's sea services.
The design and construction of the NOAA facility is funded in part by the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in history, as part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda.
The complex will include a pier to accommodate four large vessels, a floating dock for smaller ships, space for vessel repairs, parking and a building to be used for shoreside support and as a warehouse.
Construction is anticipated to be completed in 2027, according to Seapower.
"Thanks to the leadership of President Biden and the hard work of Rhode Island's elected leaders, we are making transformative investments in Rhode Island and all across the country," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said during the groundbreaking. "President Biden's Investing in America agenda made it possible for NOAA to construct this new facility and make advances in critical climate and ocean research, while also cementing NOAA's relationships with the Navy and the community of Newport. This facility will support science and a healthy economy well into the future."
NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad added, "I'm proud to say that this new facility has been designed to take future changes in our climate into consideration. It will be LEED certified and will soon be the homeport for one of our newest, lower-emissions vessels, working towards the goal to minimize NOAA's own impact on the environment."
The federal agency's fleet of 15 research and survey ships are operated, managed, and maintained by NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations.
Ranging from large oceanographic research vessels capable of exploring the world's deepest ocean, to smaller ships responsible for charting the shallow bays and inlets of the United States, the fleet supports a wide range of marine activities, including fisheries surveys, nautical charting and ocean and climate studies.
NOAA Corps officers and civilian professional mariners operate the agency's ships, Seapower noted.
"The new, state-of-the-art Marine Operations Center-Atlantic facility is critical to NOAA's mission and delivering on our commitments to regional, international. and other diverse partners," explained NOAA Corps Rear Admiral Nancy Hann, director of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations. "Newport has always been a welcoming community to NOAA, and we are appreciative of the support from local, state, and congressional leaders as well as our mission partners at Naval Station Newport."
Three of Rhode Island's Democratic Congressional members — U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, along with 1st District Congressman Gabe Amo — also were on hand for the Newport event to celebrate the start of the facility's construction.
"NOAA is the top scientific weather and oceans agency, and I was pleased to help Rhode Island land [the] MOC-A. Naval Station Newport's location," Reed said. "The years of strategic federal investments we've made here are really paying off. Bringing NOAA's premiere research fleet and Atlantic operations center to the Ocean State means hundreds of jobs for Rhode Island and a brighter future for our Blue Economy."
Whitehouse added, "This day would not have been possible without Sen. Reed's longtime dedication to relocating the Center to the Ocean State."
In his remarks, Amo predicted NOAA's expanding presence in Rhode will lead to "a massive jobs and economy boon for years to come."
"The work to construct and staff the Marine Operations Center-Atlantic right here on Naval Station Newport will improve our national security and non-military operations," he continued.
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