We are pleased to advise that a date has been set for the official Welcome to Port Celebrations on Friday 12 December 2014 for the new Marine National Facility research vessel, Investigator.

The day will be a celebration of the collaboration, foresight and hard work invested by Australia’s marine science community over the past decade, and in particular CSIRO’s management of the Future Research Vessel Project, which culminated in the delivery of the world class research vessel to its home port of Hobart just a few weeks ago.

At the event the ship will formally be handed over from the CSIRO’s Future Research Vessel Project to the Marine National Facility, for use as Australia’s ocean going national research vessel.

The event will be held at the CSIRO Marine Laboratories in Hobart, where a formal function will be held, followed by an open day for the general public. Further details for these events will be sent in the coming weeks.

We welcome everyone to be part of this celebration, but if you can’t make it in person you can join via social media and online through the Investigator@CSIRO blog, all of which will be updated with photos and videos across the day.

We look forward to seeing you at the celebrations.

Toni Moate
Executive Director, Future Research Vessel Project