Contact Information
Address:
439 West York Street
Norfolk, VA 23510-1145
United StatesPhone:
843-529-0731
NOAA Ship Nancy Foster
NOAA Ship Nancy Foster ship supports fish habitat and populations studies, seafloor mapping surveys, physical and chemical oceanography studies, and maritime heritage surveys.
The 187-ft. vessel uses single beam and multibeam echo sounders, as well as an echo sounder system for fish stock assessment. Nancy Foster also carries a thermosalinograph and other technologies that allow them to sample water and sediment. The ship's dynamic positioning technology allows for more exact deployment of autonomous underwater vehicles and remotely operated vehicles.
Nancy Foster is homeported in Charleston, South Carolina, and focuses primarily on U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and the Caribbean Sea. The ship was originally built as a U.S. Navy yard torpedo test vessel. In 2001, the Navy transferred the ship to NOAA, which converted the ship into a research vessel. The ship was commissioned in the NOAA fleet in 2004.