Groundbreaking event for new NOAA facility in North Charleston, South Carolina

NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations will hold a ceremony to break ground on renovations at the agency’s pier facility in North Charleston, South Carolina.

The renovations will include demolishing and building a new pier that includes shoreside power for ships, as well as a warehouse, sea wall and living shoreline, and other supporting infrastructure. Reconstruction of the pier and other facility upgrades will allow NOAA ships Ronald H. Brown and Nancy Foster to once again have a designated place to dock and better accommodate research missions in the Atlantic. Both ships are homeported in Charleston.

In September 2023, NOAA awarded the contract for this project, which is part of NOAA’s infrastructure investments funded by the Inflation Reduction Act.

WHAT

Groundbreaking ceremony for renovations at NOAA’s pier facility in North Charleston, South Carolina.

WHEN & WHERE

July 30, 9:30 a.m. EDT

NOAA North Charleston Pier Facility
2234 S. Hobson Ave.
Charleston, SC 29405

WHO

• Rick Spinrad, Ph.D., NOAA administrator
• Rear Admiral Chad Cary, deputy director, NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations
• Additional speakers invited

RSVP

Media interested in attending must email omao.publicaffairs@noaa.gov no later than July 26 to obtain access to this federal facility. 

BACKGROUND

NOAA’s fleet of 15 research and survey ships are operated, managed and maintained by NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations. Ranging from large oceanographic research vessels capable of exploring the world’s deepest ocean, to smaller ships responsible for charting the shallow bays and inlets of the U.S. The fleet supports a wide range of marine activities, including fisheries surveys, nautical charting and ocean and climate studies. NOAA ships are operated by NOAA Corps officers and civilian professional mariners.

Climate, weather, and water affect all life on our ocean planet. NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict our changing environment, from the deep sea to outer space, and to manage and conserve America’s coastal and marine resources.