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NOAA Ship Hi‘ialakai is a multipurpose oceanographic research vessel whose primary missions include coral reef ecosystem mapping, coral reef health and fish stock studies, and maritime heritage surveys in the Pacific Islands Region. A T-AGOS class vessel, Hi‘ialakai was built in 1984 for the U.S. Navy and served as the U.S. Naval Vessel Vindicator. The ship was then transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard, and finally to NOAA in 2002, when it was converted to conduct coral reef research. The ship was commissioned in the NOAA fleet in 2004.

The 224-ft. ship is renowned for its work since 2004 assessing the health of coral reefs throughout the Pacific Islands. Scuba diving operations play a major role in the ship’s mission, and Hi‘ialakai is equipped for both shallow- and deep-water dive projects. The ship carries three small workboats that transfer divers to the working grounds, a 15-person dive locker to store scientific gear and equipment, and an air compressor to fill tanks. As Hi‘ialakai frequently operates in remote areas, the ship also carries a three-person, double-lock decompression chamber. In the event of a diving accident, the diver can be treated onsite.

The ship supports a scientific crew of ~22 and is equipped with wet and dry labs, a computer/electronics room, and a scientific freezer. Data collection systems include an acoustic current Doppler profiler, CTDs and water samples, a thermosalinograph, and two Kongsberg multibeam echosounders (EM300 and EM3002d). The ship supported multibeam mapping operations across the Pacific Island Regions primarily between 2004 and 2008.

In addition to supporting NOAA projects, Hi‘ialakai works in partnership with the University of Hawaii, State of Hawaii, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The ship is homeported at the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Pacific Islands in Honolulu.