NOAA Ships and Contractor Operations

Weekly Hydro Ship Activity Report - Week of August 23-29, 2020

Navigation Response Team Activities

Hurricane Laura response:

• NRT-Fernandina Beach collected multibeam data of Anchorages A-C in Galveston Bay, Texas, while NRT-Galveston provided processing and logistics support.
• NRT-Stennis collected object detection and multibeam data in the Calcasieu Ship Channel, Louisiana. They also collected high definition photos of three CO-OPS assets at the entrance of the Calcasieu ship channel.
• NRT-Fernandina Beach joined NRT-Stennis this week in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway west of the Calcasieu Ship Channel to the Louisiana/Texas border in addition to further tasking in Lake Charles.

Routine operations:

• NRT - New London is working on their first routine survey of the season. They're finishing up a project in the Taunton River.
• Bay Hydro II successfully integrated a dual head multibeam transducer and will be ready to work on routine projects soon.
• NRT - Seattle is drafting plans to begin routine surveys in the coming weeks.

Staff Updates

Coast Survey welcomes Ms. Tracy Bellamy as the new business manager. Ms. Bellamy comes to Coast Survey from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services where she was the senior management officer for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) for 6.5 years. She led CDER’s Office of Management’s administrative operations which include human capital services and programs, facilities management, financial management, employee safety, and logistics management for over 220 employees. Prior to the FDA, she worked as the administrative officer for the chief information officer for the Army’s Office of the Surgeon General in Falls Church, Virginia. As a decorated U.S. Army Retired Veteran, Tracy served as a senior non-commissioned officer in a plethora of positions in the human resources arena throughout her 23 years of service. Ms. Bellamy graduated from the American University in Washington, DC, obtaining a master’s degree in public administration with an emphasis in key executive leadership. She also has a master’s degree in human resources administration from Central Michigan University. We are very happy to welcome her to the Coast Survey senior management team.

The front office thanks both Terence Lynch and Lorraine Robidoux for serving as acting business manager over the past several months. Their commitment to this position and Coast Survey is truly appreciated.

Hydrographic Surveys Division (HSD) welcomes Anthony Klemm back to Coast Survey. During his time in the NOAA Corps, he spent nearly ten years filling positions in the Marine Chart Division (MCD) and Navigation Services Division (NSD), as well as two sea tours on NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson. After resigning his commission to spend more time with his family, he worked for a homeschool curriculum company as a science writer and is the author of five books meant to make science more fascinating and engaging. He most recently worked as a contract scientist with Coast Survey Development Lab (CSDL) through ERT in support of the National Bathymetric Source team and is currently pursuing an MS in Data Analytics at the University of Maryland Global Campus. In his spare time, Anthony enjoys reading, cooking, hiking, and learning the cello and violin alongside his three children.

MCD would like to welcome Delmy Pinto, the new administrative support specialist. She will be assisting in different office administrative duties, travel, and special projects. Delmy has been with NOAA for going on five years now (previously with OAR) and she loves this environment. She strives to assist others, and if she doesn’t know the answer to a question, she just has to find out! Delmy comes to MCD with eight years of teaching background, with her main focus on pre-school and elementary age children. Now with a two year old daughter at home, she doesn’t get much "free" time, but when she does Delmy usually loves dancing.

MCD welcomes Captain Edward “E.J.” Van Den Ameele into the role of division chief. Captain Van Den Ameele's extensive hydrographic experience and time at sea position him perfectly to move forward with MCD’s effort to re-scheme the nation’s electronic navigational charts and progress the goals outlined in the National Charting Plan. He has served as commanding officer of the NOAA ships Rainier and Fairweather, chief of the CSDL, and most recently as executive director to NOAA’s deputy under secretary for operations. MCD is entering an unprecedented time when considering the size and number of ships that nautical charts support, the increased volume and quality of data to apply, and the increased pace of technology with which it needs to adapt.







The front office welcomes John Nyberg into the position of deputy hydrographer. John has worked in Coast Survey for 23 years in both MCD and NSD. John has extensive international experience with both the International Hydrographic Organization and the United Nations. He will continue his work with both while helping to represent the director internationally and domestically when the director is not available, with key interagency partners such as the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Navy, Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, and others. John will also be working on building and enacting a legislative engagement plan to promote Coast Survey, its programs, and capabilities. The depth of his program knowledge, along with his wide network of domestic and international partnerships, makes him an excellent choice to advance Coast Survey strategic legislative, interagency, and international objectives.



CSDL welcomes Allison Wittrock as the new acting deputy chief. A big thank you to Tara Wallace for serving in this acting position for the past few months. Allison has worked in the Marine Chart Division for 16 years and has been the branch chief of the Northeast region for five years. She has been surviving the quarantine by spending time with her partner, Mike, walking their rottweiler puppy, Brooklyn, and providing food and door service to their cat, Keagan.