Page 29: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2003)

NOAA Ship Whiting Decommissioned After 39 Years Of Service

After 39 years of service to NOAA and its predeces- sor agency, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, the

NOAA ship Whiting was decommissioned in May 2003 at its home port in Norfolk, Va. The ship has been an essential part of the NOAA fleet, working in support of NOAA's mission to ensure safe navigation of the nation's coastal waterways.

Whiting boasted the most technologically advanced hydrographic survey platform in the world. Outfitted with modern multibeam echosounders and side-scan sonars. Whiting and its launches efficiently and rapid- ly completed surveys for the safe navigation of the nation's maritime commerce. The data storage for sur- vey data was close to two terabytes — one terabyte equaling 1.000 gigabytes. Nine workstations allowed survey personnel to process the data with state-of-the- art software and create impressive 3D models of the ocean floor, side scan mosaics as well as imagery of historical wrecks like the USS Monitor. In addition to hydrographic surveys, it was used for oceanography, fisheries research and homeland security surveys.

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June 2003

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