The R/V Aurora (newbuild no. 130) is a Danish research vessel owned and operated by Aarhus University.
It is a multi-purpose vessel with a large working deck and a gantry for the deployment and recovery of trawls and other heavy equipment from the stern. The Aurora is classified to sail in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, with an endurance of up to 10 days at sea.
The Aurora is designed as a multi-purpose research vessel, with activities centred on the large aft working deck, which can accommodate two 20-foot containers. These containers can hold technical equipment, such as a seismic air gun array or a specialised laboratory, in addition to the onboard laboratory. Alternatively, a trawl winch can be mounted on the deck. Trawling and heavy equipment, such as piston core samplers, can be deployed and recovered by means of the gantry. In addition to the open working deck, a sheltered deck with doors on the starboard side allows the deployment and recovery of water samplers and CTDs.
Two propellers, each driven by a 368 kW Scania DI13 diesel engine, provide propulsion. The vessels are also equipped with a 150 kW bow thruster for dynamic positioning. The top speed is 11 knots.
The ship has three decks. The main deck contains a galley and stores in the stern, followed by a combined mess, lounge and meeting room, as well as a dry laboratory. Adjacent to the dry laboratory is the sheltered wet laboratory, which opens onto the aft deck. Below the main deck is the aft engine room and cabins for the crew (two single rooms for the captain and chief mate, two double rooms for the deck crew and cook, and two double rooms and one four-berth room for the scientific crew and students). The bridge deck is located above the main deck and is divided into the bridge itself, which sits on top of a semi-deck containing the ship’s electronics. The lower part faces the aft deck and is used to house computers and other equipment for collecting data from the multibeam sonar, seismic streamers, and other towed equipment. On top of the bridge is a platform designed for conducting visual surveys of birds and marine mammals.
