June 18, 2008 - 2:20am
Students in the Aluminum Boat Building program at Vancouver Island University are building a training vessel for the Centre for Shellfish Research at VIU, which will be used to service the Deep Bay field station.
“When we heard about the new aluminum boat building program at VIU, we were very excited,” said Brian Kingzett, Manager of the Deep Bay field station. “This allowed us to design a vessel like the ones being used in Europe, one that can be built by students, but still meet all our needs.”
A traditional keel-laying ceremony took place on June 12, to celebrate the construction of the vessel, which will be the primary work vessel at the Deep Bay field station, a commercial shellfish farm for research and development. It will be used in normal shellfish farming operations, but also to provide support to research projects and training. Local marine architects Bruce Cope and Bradley Dale developed the boat design with the CSR.
“It will be used to carry students, so safety and stability are absolutely critical in the design,” said Kingzett. “We are also building this boat to be as environmentally friendly as possible. It will use 4-stroke outboards that meet the highest ratings for emissions, with bio-diesel powering the engine that runs the hydraulics. We also hope to be equip this vessel with its own oil booms in case pollution threatens the farm.”
Students in the new Aluminum Boat Building program at VIU are thrilled to be taking part in the project. Instructor Owen Popplestone sees this collaborative effort as a great opportunity for the two groups to work together.
“This project is a perfect fit for our two groups,” said Popplestone. “The great thing about it is that the students are lining up to put in extra time on the project. They are so eager to help out and make sure we are on schedule. It’s so nice to work with a bunch of students like that on a really positive project.”
“This is a win-win on all sides,” added Kingzett. “Without the welding and boat building programs, we would not have been able to conceive or even begin to afford this boat. It is going to allow us to advance our mandate significantly. We take a lot of pride that we are able to do this in-house at VIU and we are extremely impressed by the partnership that is taking place and especially the quality of construction we are getting from the students. We are really looking forward to the launch at the end of the summer.”
For more information on the new vessel or the Deep Bay field station, please contact Brian Kingzett at 250-740-6399 or kingzettb@viu.ca. For more information on the Aluminum Boat Building program, please contact Owen Popplestone at 250-740-6139 or popplesto@viu.ca
Tags: In the Community
