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The MRV Ngerin (an aboriginal word meaning 'good fishing') is the flagship of SARDI Aquatic Sciences. It is designed to enable biological and oceanographic studies on the fisheries resources in coastal and offshore waters of South Australia. The research conducted onboard the Ngerin includes the disciplines of fisheries science, marine biology and ecology, physical and biological oceanography and seismology.

Whilst much of the work of the Ngerin is associated with fisheries resources, the vessel is a State facility and can be used by other organisations.

Details at a glance

Equipment

Trawl equipment

• Twin trawl winches and associated rigging enable twin 'Gundry' trawl nets to be operated to depths of 70 metres.

• Winches are operated from a central panel located aft of the forecastle deck.

Auxillary equipment

• 1 x 60 kva and 1 x 35 kva 415–240v generators

• 1 x 4.5 kva portable generator, separate from the ship's power suitable for sensitive computing equipment

• hydraulic sea crane with a lifting capacity of 1.2 tonnes at full extension of 9m

• stern 'A-frame' for retrieval of data logging moorings

• pro system 4.7m rigid hull Zodiac inflatable vessel complete with 30hp motor

• 4.2 m Zodiac inflatable vessel complete with 15hp motor

• Bauer high stage compressor (330 bars) for filling SCUBA tanks (tanks to be supplied by users or hired from SARDI)

• Diver operated underwater cage vehicle (shark cage) available for high risk dive operations.

Oceanographic equipment

• 6 x 2 litre Niskin bottles with reversing thermometers

• hydraulic winch with 1500 metre x 4mm stainless steel cable

• seacat SBE 19 CTD profiler

• personal computer facilities including IBM compatible software for on-board downloading and analysis of CTD data

Facilities

• wet laboratory

• dry laboratory

• two circulating seawater tanks (14,000 liter capacity)

Communications and navigation

GRN, UHF, HF, VHF, mobile phone and sea phone Bridge incorporates gyro compass coupled to automatic pilot and linked to a GPS navigation system interfaced to GD 180 video plotter Black and white and colour echo sounder Fax machine and weather fax

Ngerin Operations Types

The vessel operates within southern Australian waters up to 200 nautical miles offshore. Cruises are normally up to 10 days duration, but more extended periods can be considered.

The vessel's permanent crew of four has extensive technical expertise in marine operations for all types of commercial fishing, field based fisheries research, oceanographic studies and seismic surveys and are familiar with a broad range of gear and instruments.

The MRV Ngerin carries out a wide range of activities, such as:

• Trawl and sample collection operations

• Towed array research operations

• Oceanographic operations

• Dive operations

Operations and Facilities Description

The vessel operates within southern Australian waters up to 200 nautical miles offshore. Cruises are normally up to 10 days duration, but more extended periods can be considered.

Opportunity exists for using the Ngerin as a platform for testing various types of instrumentation or for the regular monitoring and sampling of sites. The vessel may also be used as a 'mother ship' where coastal surveys and observations need to be conducted from smaller vessels.

The Ngerin can dock at any reasonable berthing facility but most cruises originate and end at either Port Adelaide or Port Lincoln.

All meals and linen are supplied during each cruise. Scientific parties of up to eight can be accommodated. Each cabin is air conditioned, has two bunks, wardrobes and a writing desk.