{"id":573,"date":"2012-10-30T11:32:31","date_gmt":"2012-10-30T15:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/noaacoastsurvey.wordpress.com\/?p=573"},"modified":"2022-03-18T16:55:05","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T16:55:05","slug":"noaa-ship-hassler-starts-survey-of-deep-draft-routes-to-hampton-roads-and-baltimore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nauticalcharts.noaa.gov\/updates\/noaa-ship-hassler-starts-survey-of-deep-draft-routes-to-hampton-roads-and-baltimore\/","title":{"rendered":"NOAA Ship Hassler starts post-SANDY survey of deep draft routes to Hampton Roads and Baltimore"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
NOAA Ship <\/em>Ferdinand R. Hassler departed from NOAA’s Marine Operation Center in Norfolk this morning, to start post-SANDY surveys of critical deep water channels.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nNOAA\u2019s newest survey ship, the Ferdinand R. Hassler<\/i><\/a>, began survey operations today in support of the U.S. Coast Guard efforts to re-open the Port of Virginia. Hassler<\/i> was in port at NOAA\u2019s Marine Operations Center \u2013 Atlantic<\/a> in Norfolk, Virginia, for maintenance when Hurricane Sandy affected the area. The ship\u2019s crew spent Monday completing the work and system tests necessary to get underway once the storm passed, and has now been returned to limited operational status.
\n
\nLt. Cmdr. Ben Evans, Hassler\u2019s<\/i> commanding officer, got the ship underway today (Tuesday), and will return Wednesday evening. The Coast Guard Captain of the Port for Hampton Roads requested that the ship survey critical portions of Thimble Shoal Channel and Chesapeake Channel, the deep draft routes to the ports of Hampton Roads and Baltimore.
\n\u201cSurveying the deepest draft channels will allow the Coast Guard to decide when to re-open the port to unrestricted traffic without unnecessary delay,\u201d Evans explained. \u201cThe ports of the Chesapeake Bay are critical to the U.S. economy and national security, so we need to make this effort as soon as the ship is ready to sail.\u201d
\nThe need for hydrographic surveying is critical. There are 78 large vessels, including portions of the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet, waiting to transit through the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.
\nThe Hassler<\/i> was also a pivotal survey asset last year, as Hampton Roads resumed operations after Hurricane Irene<\/a>. At that time, Hassler<\/i> was one of the three NOAA survey vessels used to clear the port from dangers caused by underwater debris or shoaling. Their work enabled a rapid resumption of shipping and port operations in 2011.
\n\u201cDelays in shipping, even minor ones, cost the economy millions each year,\u201d explained Rear Admiral Gerd Glang, director of NOAA\u2019s Office of Coast Survey. \u201cAfter Hurricane Irene last year, NOAA\u2019s rapid maritime response paid dividends in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, where an average of $5 million worth of cargo is shipped in or out, every hour. This year, rapid response is just as critical.\u201d
\nThe Norfolk Custom District is the country\u2019s 9th<\/sup> largest in terms of the value of total imports and exports moving through the port, with nearly $55 billion in total trade in 2011<\/a>.
\n*** Learn more about how NOAA’s National Ocean Service responds to hurricanes<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOAA\u2019s newest survey ship, the Ferdinand R. Hassler, began survey operations today in support of the U.S. Coast Guard efforts to re-open the Port of Virginia. Hassler was in port at NOAA\u2019s Marine Operations Center \u2013 Atlantic in Norfolk, Virginia, for maintenance when Hurricane Sandy affected the area. The ship\u2019s crew spent Monday completing the … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “NOAA Ship Hassler starts post-SANDY survey of deep draft routes to Hampton Roads and Baltimore”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,7,47,1],"tags":[155,156],"class_list":["post-573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ferdinand-r-hassler","category-hydrographic-surveys","category-rapid-maritime-response","category-uncategorized","tag-hurricane-sandy","tag-transportation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nauticalcharts.noaa.gov\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nauticalcharts.noaa.gov\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nauticalcharts.noaa.gov\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nauticalcharts.noaa.gov\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nauticalcharts.noaa.gov\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nauticalcharts.noaa.gov\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182445,"href":"https:\/\/nauticalcharts.noaa.gov\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions\/182445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nauticalcharts.noaa.gov\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nauticalcharts.noaa.gov\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nauticalcharts.noaa.gov\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}