R/V Sikuliaq embarks on its first journey to Antarctica
Jeff Richardson
907-474-5350
November 14, 2025
The research vessel Sikuliaq will begin a long journey to Antarctica this week, marking a new era for the Seward-based
ship and its crew.
Sikuliaq, which has been owned by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by the
窪蹋勛圖厙 窪蹋勛圖厙 of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences since 2014,
has largely been used in waters around Alaska and the Pacific Northwest for the past
decade. Starting early next year, the vessels duties will temporarily shift to Antarctica
for the first time.
The 261-foot ice-capable ship will support three research projects that were previously
scheduled for vessels whose contracts with NSF have concluded. The charter for the
research vessel Laurence M. Gould expired in 2024, and NSF ended its lease with the research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer earlier this year.
Sikuliaq has been assigned to those projects largely because of the ships ability to traverse
frigid ice-filled seas: Its the only vessel in the U.S. Academic Research Fleet rated
to navigate ice up to 2.5 feet thick.
We can work in Antarctica because the ship was designed to operate in polar waters,
said Marine Superintendent Doug Baird.
The ship departed Dutch Harbor on Nov. 14, embarking on a 10-day transit cruise to
Honolulu. From there, Sikuliaq will mobilize for a 3-week NSF-funded research project in the South Pacific to study
influences on shifting levels of ocean heat near the equator.
After that project, the ship will travel south to French Polynesia and then on to
Punta Arenas, Chile, where staging will begin for a series of research projects that
will last through March 2026. A coring project on Antarcticas Seymour Island will
evaluate the effects of a mass extinction event during the Cretaceous Period, along
with work in the Weddell Sea to study summer sea ice. The final cruise will evaluate
the ecology of the ocean bottom off the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula by using
divers to collect invertebrate samples.
Katrin Iken, a professor of marine biology at CFOS is one of dozens of scientists
who will work aboard Sikuliaq in Antarctica. She will be part of the dive team collecting samples, a throwback
to similar work she did in Antarctica as a Ph.D. student and postdoctoral researcher.
Aside from being an exciting project, its going to be a fun opportunity for me to,
in a way, go back to my roots, Iken said. This was just everything coming together
to close a loop.
The crew is also eager for the opportunity to travel to the deep south, Baird said.
Crew are very excited they like the idea of winter in the tropics and getting to
go to Antarctica, he said. Weve had temporary relief crew members tell us they
want to go if we need them.