Curiosity seekers can view the ship from shore but not climb aboard.
By JON WILSON
Published September 3, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG - At 274 feet, the Ronald H. Brown is the largest vessel in one of the nation's research fleets.
Tropical weather permitting, the ship is expected to dock at the Port of St. Petersburg on Thursday and stay for several days.
"The low may slow them down," said Capt. Michael Perez, port director, referring to disturbed weather in the western Caribbean. "Or they may decide to charge through it."
The Ronald H. Brown, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship, will stop for a crew change and a refitting project, Perez said. It is bound from St. Martin in the Caribbean, he said.
The ship will stay for several days but will not be open to the public. Crews will be busy putting a 32-ton A-frame structure on the vessel's stern for raising and lowering unmanned submarines, Perez said.
But the ship will be easily visible at the port on Eighth Avenue SE. It will be docked between the Robust, a seagoing tugboat, and the Coast Guard base.
Named for the secretary of commerce who died in a 1996 plane crash while on a trade mission to Bosnia, the Ronald H. Brown typically carries six officers and a 20-member crew. It can accommodate up to 33 scientists and has more than 4,000 square feet of laboratory space. It also has a four-bed hospital.
Since its commissioning in 1997 in Charleston, S.C., the ship has sailed in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. It supports a variety of projects in ocean and climate research.
Recent projects have involved monsoons, aerosol pollution and tropical rainfall rates.
