Published: June 23, 2009 12:17 pm      

NOAA ship being outfitted to study marine life

PASCAGOULA — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s newest fisheries survey vessel is being outfitted at a Mississippi shipyard and should be ready in July.

Capt. Chris Moore, commanding officer of the ship, Pisces, says the 208-foot vessel is docked at VT Halter Marine, the ship’s builder, in Bayou Casotte.

It’s now being outfitted with equipment to study, monitor and collect data on sea life and ocean conditions.

It’s designed to function continuously in 40-day missions, and will carry about 21 crew and 15 scientists from the NOAA Fisheries Service’s Mississippi lab in Pascagoula.

Moore says the Pisces will work “the whole Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and up the Gulf Stream to North Carolina.”