The $325,000 Humphries, a 48-foot trawler converted to research use, is N.C. State University’s newest and largest research vessel.

In January ceremonies at the dock of the New Bern Country Club, the boat was christened the RV (research vessel) Humphries by N.C. State Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. She was assisted by Elenore Humphries, widow of Howard L. Humphries, who originally built the predominantly fiberglass vessel from scratch. Humphries was a marine engineer and naval architect, who, with Elenore, founded Ocean Machinery Corp. in 1950 in New Jersey.

Mrs. Humphries, along with Howard Humphries’ daughter, Dr. Edythe Humphries, who coordinates Delaware’s Pfiesteria/Harmful Algal Bloom Scientific Program, gave the boat to the university.

“This vessel,” said Fox, “provides N.C. State with a valuable platform from which to conduct needed research and will serve as an extremely effective outreach and education resource.”

The ship’s major users will be N.C. State’s Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology (CAAE) and the Botany Department at N.C. State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said James Oblinger, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

“This vessel,” he said, “allows us to undertake intensive sediment and fisheries sampling by increasing our collaborative possibilities with other investigators, and it fosters more field research flexibility, expanding the range of North Carolina estuarine and coastal waters that we reach for more intensive and complete scientific studies of water column and benthic processes.

“No longer will we be limited to fair-weather field trips,” Oblinger said. “The vessel can support a crew of scientists for more than 14 days in a wide range of weather and sea conditions, which allows us to conduct a variety of field studies that previously were impossible. The large, stable, protected platform provided by this vessel enables us to take sensitive lab equipment to sea for detailed molecular and physiological studies.”

The Humphries also will serve as a floating research classroom and provide tours highlighting coastal ecosystems to K-12 school groups and their families, he said.

With its upswept trawler-type bow, a relatively deep draft, wide beam and squared-off stern, RVH is fitted for long-term use. It has a pilothouse and galley above-deck and two staterooms below, as well as room on the rear deck for equipment.

—Art Latham