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January 2011 www.sname.org/sname/mt tted with a motion compensated over-side handling system operating through a large, sliding side door. To mitigate icing and reduce personnel risk, external working decks are heated. Working decks are serviced by twin knuckle-boom cranes that cover the entire working deck area, and by a large, fully-artic- ulating aft A-frame. Lab areas have been arranged to provide logical adjacencies, and physical mock- ups are being used to ne tune equipment and outt locations. Transducers play an increasingly important role in multi-disci- plinary science, and Sikuliaq is tted with a broad suite of modern systems. These include a hull mounted, ice-hardened mid- depth and shallow-water multibeam sonar system, sub-bottom proler, and science sounder, as well as a retractable center- board that provides scientic transducers an optimal location well away from hull disturbances while providing direct access (when retracted) for servicing or changing the centerboard-mounted transducers. The path ahead As the shipyard prepares to begin construc- tion of Sikuliaq , with keel laying scheduled for February 2011, the NSF, the UNOLS, and the UAF will have established the foun- dation for the next generation of scientic access throughout the Alaska region. While there undoubtedly will be challenges as the vessel moves through construction, trials, and delivery, it is rewarding to see 30 years of eort by this broad team of scientists, engi- neers, operators, and politicians culminate in this unique research vessel, the Sikuliaq , moving steadily towards the launch ways at Marinette Marine, then onward to the Alaskan Arctic. MTJay Edgar is vice president and director of engineering at The Glosten Associates in Seattle, Washington. Particular care was taken in the development of this hull to incorporate as much deadrise as possible in the flattened bow sections to mitigate slamming issues.