R/V (Research Vessel)

A research vessel is a ship built or fitted for scientific work at sea, equipped to deploy and recover instruments and to run laboratories underway. Capabilities include a CTD rosette winch, multibeam and sub-bottom sonar, dynamic positioning to hold station over a site, A-frames and cranes for moorings and coring, and clean seawater and wet labs. In the US the academic fleet runs under UNOLS coordination; classes range from coastal vessels to global ships such as the Roger Revelle and the Sikuliaq ice-capable hull. Research vessels carry the people, deck gear, and analytical capacity that no autonomous platform replaces for complex multi-sensor stations.