R/V Neecho Research Vessel

History

The R/V Neecho was manufactured by Monarch Marine Corporation in 1978 and built for the USGS in Woods Hole, MA. For several years the vessel worked in the northeastern US and on the Great Lakes. In 1997 the R/V Neecho was transported and launched on Lago Titicaca in Bolivia, SA until 2004. To transport the vessel had an interesting journey heading from the US to Bolivia. The R/V Neecho was trucked to New Jersey, loaded onto a cargo vessel and transported to Arica, Chile via the Panama Canal. After clearing customs in Arica, Chile, the vessel was trucked up to Lago Titicaca where it was craned onto the lake in Huatajata, Bolivia. While on Lake Titicaca several cruises were performed which including seismic, water chemistry, piston coring, moorings, and support of the Titicaca coring project. Several groups participated on these projects (Duke, Nebraska, Rice, Stanford, Syracuse, USGS, and others).

In late December 2004, the R/V Neecho was removed from Lago Titicaca and headed south to Argentina on a new journey via road from Bolivia to Puerto Montt, Chile for ferry transport to Puerto Natales, Chile then transported via road to Ushuaia, Argentina with a short ferry transport across the Straits of Magellan. The R/V Neecho arrive in Ushuaia on February 2005. In March 2005 she received a mechanical overhaul and a new pain job. R/V Neecho was deployed into the Beagle Channel for trials, after a few days the vessel was later removed and trucked over the pass to Lago Fagnano ~40km north of Ushuaia and for the first time, ever, the vessel was successfully launched (without the aid of a crane) into the lake from the trailer. The R/V Neecho's first cruise was high resolution seismic and gravity coring with three participants (UTIG, UT-Austin, Stanford, and University of Geneva). The R/V Neecho was subsequently recovered successfully with the trailer where it stayed until March 2006 when the vessel was lanuched for a second coring cruise on Lago Fagnano. Again the vessel was launched and recovered using the trailer however, on the recover the hitch used to recover the vessel broke making the recovery more difficult, but still successful. In March 2007 the R/V Neecho was relocated to Punta Arenas, Chile for a few years and later was relocated to Puerto Natales, Chile. Neecho has been deployed in Lago Sarmiento 2012 and has worked in the neighboring fjords since 2011-2018. Neecho is now being prepared to return to the US and back home at Stanford.

Update

In December 2018, the R/V Neecho is scheduled for relocation to Stanford University.