NOAA and Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors, LLC (TMC) held a keel-laying ceremony in Houma, Louisiana, today for NOAA’s newest oceanographic research ship, Oceanographer.
During the ceremony, the initials of the ship’s sponsor, Linda Kwok Schatz, wife of U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, was welded onto a steel plate that will be incorporated into the ship during construction. Although Oceanographer does not have a traditional keel due to modern shipbuilding methods, today’s ceremony was in keeping...