History
Australia
Name	Investigator
Namesake	HMS Investigator
Owner	CSIRO
Operator	CSIRO Marine National Facility
Ordered	2011
Builder	Teekay Holdings Australia, Sembawang Shipyard, Singapore
Acquired	September 2014
Commissioned	12 December 2014
In service	From 2014
Home port	Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Identification	IMO number: 9616888 MMSI number: 503791000 Callsign: VLMJ
Status	Active
General characteristics
Class & type	Oceanographic research ship
Tonnage	6082 GT, 1824 NT
Length	93.9 m (308 ft 1 in)
Beam	18.5 m (60 ft 8 in)
Draught	6.2 m (20 ft 4 in)
Depth	9.45 m (31 ft 0 in)
Propulsion	Diesel Electric incorporating 3 x 9 Cylinder Diesel MaK 9M25C Generators (3000 kW each), 2 reversible electric propulsion motors (2600 kW each) driving two slow-speed fixed-pitch propellers, 1 electric retractable azimuth bow thruster (1200 kW).
Speed	12kts
Range	10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km), 60 days
Complement	18-20 crew, up to 40 scientists
Notes	Technical and Crew Managers: MMA Offshore Limited

RV Investigator is an Australian marine research vessel owned by the CSIRO and operated by its Marine National Facility,^[1] undertaking oceanographic, geoscience, ecosystem and fisheries research.

In May 2009 the Government of Australia allocated $120 million for a new ocean-going research vessel to replace the 1972 built RV Southern Surveyor, which has served as the principal research ship for Australia's Marine National Facility since 1988.^[2] RV Investigator was designed by RALion (joint venture between Robert Allan Limited and Alion Science & Technology) and constructed in Singapore. It was transferred from Sembawang Shipyard to the delivery crew on 5 August 2014 for pre-departure testing and setup. The vessel arrived at its home port of Hobart on 9 September 2014^[3] and was officially launched on 12 December 2014.^[4]

The RV Investigator is able to accommodate up to 40 scientists, go to sea for up to 60 days at a time and spend up to 300 days of the year at sea on research voyages. Operating costs are estimated to be $140,000 per day. Special features of the ship are a "gondola", similar to a winged keel, mounted 1.2 m below the hull, and two drop keels (which can be lowered to a maximum of 4m below the hull), to carry scientific instruments below the layer of microbubbles created by the movement of the ship’s hull through the water. Such instrumentation includes acoustic mappers, a pelagic sediment profiler to produce maps of the sea floor, and 2 Acoustic Doppler current profilers. The hull and the machinery of the ship have been designed to operate as quietly as possible to enhance its scientific capabilities.^[2]

In November 2020, the RV Investigator front camera captured a green meteor entering the atmosphere and produced a clear video of this rare phenomenon. The meteor footage was captured off the southern coast of Tasmania.^[5]

Media related to IMO 9616888 at Wikimedia Commons

• "Applying for Sea Time in 2014-2015 - RV Investigator". Marine National Facility. CSIRO. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
• CSIRO research vessel Investigator uncovering secrets of the deep ocean, ABC News video, September 2023

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