UNCW-Undersea Vehicles Program

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Wilmington, NC
UNCW-Undersea Vehicles Program

The Undersea Vehicles Program (UVP) is a part of the oceanographic operations support division at UNCW's Center for Marine Science.

The Undersea Vehicles Program at the University of North Carolina Wilmington is dedicated to providing efficient undersea intervention with experienced remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) support. With over 28 years of conducting undersea research, the UVP team possesses the skills and knowledge required to perform extensive end-to-end mission coordination and l

ogistics, professional vehicle operations, and quality data collection. UVP is uniquely qualified to provide access to and expertise associated with specialized ocean exploration and research vehicles, systems, and sensors to conduct ocean exploration, research, training, and technology development. Visit our web site at http://www.uncw.edu/uvp/ for day rates, scheduling, vehicle specification, system requirements, and operating procedures, or contact Jason White at [email protected] for additional information on how we can support your undersea research.

05/25/2026

Happy Memorial Day from the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. The ship is pulling in the Port at Gulfport, Mississippi today to tie up. After a successful cruise we will unloading the ROV gear and heading back to North Carolina tomorrow to get the Mohawk ready for another trip in June aboard the R/V Point Sur. A few days ago, we had a chance to let all the scientist fly the ROV and some of the ship’s crew. They thoroughly enjoyed it, see some of the action shots below!

05/24/2026

Happy Sunday morning from NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. We had an exciting evening aboard the ship and a squall line overtook us while we were transiting east back to Gulfport. Top reported gust was 59 knots and conditions were sporty. Anyhow, yesterday we completed our last day of operations including 3 dives at MacNeil Bank. The science team completed 22 ROV dives in 6 days spending more than 36 hours on the seafloor. This includes taking 2,193 digital stills, 3,015 screen grabs, and conducting 9 bongo and CTD events. The science team is very happy with the outcome of the cruise and we couldn't have produced these numbers without the efficency of the Nancy Foster crew.

05/23/2026

Good Saturday morning from the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. Yesterday UVP and the science team conducted four ROV dives on two different banks, Rankin and 28 Fathom Banks. These are both in the Flower Gardens Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Conditions on the bottom were pretty nice and we accomplished all the goals we had for the day. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

05/22/2026

Happy Aloha Friday from the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. UVP and the science team conducted four ROV dives yesterday between Bright Bank and 28 Fathom Bank. Water conditions were really nice and luckily a big squall passed by during the transit from one bank to the other one. Enjoy your Friday and some of the highlight photos below. Does anyone recognize the fish in the first photo?

05/21/2026

Happy Thursday from the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. UVP and the scientist explored Sonnier Bank yesterday in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. We conducted three separate dives and ten transects. A couple of the transects took the Mohawk ROV near the cap of the reef in as shallow as 18 meters of water. Enjoy some of the highlight photos!

05/20/2026

The Undersea Vehicles Program conducted five ROV dives yesterday at Parker Bank in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary ranging in depth from 65-75 meters. We had an successful day and saw lots of different fishes. Enjoy some of the highlight images from yesterday!

05/19/2026

Good morning from the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. Yesterday the team conducted three ROV dives in the 88m range on Alderdice Bank in the Flower Gardens Banks National Marine Sanctuary. The team saw lots of mud but we got to fly the top of the bank the last hour which was exciting! Enjoy some mud shots and other highlights!

05/16/2026

The Undersea Vehicles Program is back aboard the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster and headed to sea. We plan on conducting ROV operations with the Mohawk ROV all next week in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. The system is running well and is ready for action. Standby for highlight photos on Tuesday am.

04/24/2026

During a couple of our dives in the 450–600-meter range we came across anemones eating salps. It would be an interesting research project to set up a lander in an area of high-density anemones and calculate the amount of salps they eat on an annual basis, just a thought from the UVP team. We wrapped up operations yesterday and concluded the cruise with 23 total dives, 96 hours in the water with the Mohawk, 6,734 digital stills, 6,934 screen grabs, and 86 samples taken. The team is heading to Wilmington this weekend and we will be in the shop getting ready for the next cruise in May back aboard the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster.

04/23/2026

Good morning from the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. The ship is currently steaming into Gulfport, Mississippi this am with a lunch time arrival. Yesterday we conducted our last day of operations until next month when we come back aboard the Foster. We conducted one long dive, 9.5 hours, and found several markers along sampling some coral. Enjoy some of the highlight photos from yesterday!

Address

Wilmington, NC
28409

Telephone

+19109622317

Website

http://www.uncw.edu/uvp

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