Name Callistratus In service December 1978 Fate Sold 1984 to Canada Length 58 m | Yard number 922 Name W.E. Ricker Draft 4.5 m | |
 | ||
Builder | ||
CCGS W.E. Ricker is a Canadian Coast Guard offshore fisheries research vessel. The ship was originally constructed as the commercial fishing trawler Callistratus, but was purchased by the Government of Canada in 1984 and converted to a fisheries research vessel and renamed W.E. Ricker. The vessel entered service with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in 1986 and was transferred to the Canadian Coast Guard in 1995 after the two fleets were amalgamated. The ship is assigned to the West Coast of Canada and is currently in active service.
Contents
Design and description
W.E. Ricker is of a commercial stern fishing trawler design and is 58 m (190 ft 3 in) long overall with a beam of 9.5 m (31 ft 2 in) and a draught of 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in). The ship is propelled by one controllable pitch propeller driven by one Akasaka AH40 six-cylinder geared diesel engine, creating 1,863 kW (2,498 hp). W.E. Ricker is also has one Perkins 2430 emergency generator. This gives the vessel a maximum speed of 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h). The research vessel has a fuel capacity of 290.00 m3 (10,241 cu ft) of diesel fuel, a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) and can stay at sea for up to 50 days. The ship has a complement of 20, composed of 9 officers and 11 crew with 17 spare berths.
Service history
The ship was ordered from Narasaki Senpakukogyo Limited at their yard in Muroran, Japan with the yard number 922. The vessel was completed in December 1978 as Callistratus. The vessel was for use as a factory trawler to participate in emerging North Pacific fisheries (North Pacific hake, turbot and rockfish) resulting from extension of Canada's exclusive economic zone to 200 nautical miles (370 km) offshore by the Prince Rupert Fishermen's Co-operative Association. The vessel was purchased in 1984 by the Government of Canada for conversion to a fisheries research vessel in Pacific waters. The ship entered service with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in 1986, renamed W.E. Ricker, for William Edwin (Bill) Ricker, a former chief scientist of the Fisheries Research Board who developed a mathematical model used for fish population dynamics.
In 1995, in an effort to combine tasks, administration and making savings in both ships and funds, the Fisheries and Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard fleets were merged under the command of the Canadian Coast Guard. W.E. Ricker was given the new prefix CCGS as a result. The vessel is used for fisheries research in Pacific waters. In September 2009 the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced invitations for contracts to replace several of the Coast Guard's research vessels, including W.E. Ricker.