CHARLEVOIX COUNTY, MI – A new 66-foot research vessel designed to improve the safety and efficiency of Lake Michigan fisheries research is now in service after being commissioned Wednesday in Charlevoix. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources held a commissioning ceremony for the vessel, which will serve as the agency’s primary research vessel on Lake Michigan. The vessel was named the Research Vessel Steelhead after its predecessor, the Survey Vessel Steelhead. DNR Deputy Director Shannon Lott christened the new vessel, and DNR Fisheries Division Chief Randy Claramunt formally commissioned it.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources Deputy Director Shannon Lot pours water over the bow of the RV Steelhead to christen it at the Sept. 30 ceremony. [Michigan DNR]
The RV Steelhead was designed by Boksa Marine Design and built by Moran Iron Works in partnership with Superior Boats. Funding came from appropriations in the state budgets for 2023 and 2025, along with grant funding from the Great Lakes Fishery Trust. The vessel includes updated navigation and sampling equipment, a redesigned fish-processing area and a multiuse stern platform for research activities. It also features a SeaKeeper gyrostabilizer designed to provide a more stable work platform for crews, along with a bow thruster for more precise maneuvering and an integrated solar-charging system.
Captain Pat O’Neill, who will operate the vessel, said the upgrades are intended to give field crews safer and more capable tools for fisheries research and resource management. The RV Steelhead will be used for several Lake Michigan surveys, including spring gill net, lakewide acoustic forage fish and bottom trawl surveys. Those surveys help monitor species including lake whitefish, lake trout, burbot, yellow perch, alewife and rainbow smelt, as well as invasive species.
