RV Falkor

History
Italy
Name
  • Gaia Blu
  • Seefalke (Sea Hawk) (until July 2009)
  • Falkor (until 2022)
OperatorConsiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR
Port of registry
BuilderOrenstein & Koppel AG, Lübeck, Germany
Cost$94 million (refit/conversion)
Yard number760
Launched22 December 1980
Completed8 September 1981
Refit2010-2012
Identification
Statusin service
General characteristics
Tonnage2,088 GT; 627 NT
Displacement2,260 m³
Length82.9 metres (272 ft)
Beam13 metres (43 ft)
Draft4.8 metres (16 ft)
Depth6.67 metres (21.9 ft)
Speed12 kn (cruising); 19.8 kn (max)
Range13,000 nm
Endurance40 days
Capacity18 scientists
Crew19+2 technicians
Aviation facilities
  • 12.6 m diameter helideck.
  • No storage or refuelling
Notes[2]

RV Falkor is an oceanographic research vessel operated by the Schmidt Ocean Institute. Ship time aboard the vessel is made freely available to researchers once they have undergone an application, peer review process, and their proposal has been accepted.[3] One condition for using the Falkor is that research findings and data from all expeditions are made publicly available. Researchers aboard Falkor receive expert shipboard support, use of scientific equipment, as well as robotic and computational resources.[3] RV Falkor is adaptable and can facilitate new technologies and external resources as required for each science expedition. Falkor’s current status[4] and a virtual ship tour[5] are publicly available on the Schmidt Ocean Institute website. The Schmidt Ocean Institute announced the change of ownership of the vessel on 14. March 2022. It was renamed to Gaia Blu and is used by the italian National Research Council.[6] It concluded its first science expedition at the 20. October 2022.[7]

  1. ^ "GAIA BLU Research Vessel IMO 7928677". vesselfinder.com. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference schmidt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Witze, Alexandra (2013-03-28). "Private research ship makes waves". Nature News. 495 (7442): 420–421. Bibcode:2013Natur.495..420W. doi:10.1038/495420a. PMID 23538803.
  4. ^ "Current Status". Schmidt Ocean Institute. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  5. ^ "R/V Falkor Virtual Tour". Schmidt Ocean Institute. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  6. ^ "Schmidt Ocean Institute donates research vessel to the National Research Council of Italy". National Research Council. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  7. ^ "Gaia Blu ship's first mission to map Med's seabed ends". www.ansamed.info. Retrieved 2022-12-28.