Scripps unveils new Point Loma marine facility

On April 15, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and UC San Diego cut the ribbon on the new Nimitz marine Facility in Point Loma. More than five years in the making, the revitalized facility includes $20.9 million worth of improvements, including a new pier, new wharf, improved berthing, upgraded utilities and environmental protection systems.

Constructed by Marathon Construction Corporation of Lakeside, the project includes a 30,000 square foot waterfront facility consisting of a 307 lineal foot wharf and a 365 lineal foot pier and included pier utilities including electrical, mechanical, communications, wastewater and fire.

The facility will house the UC San Diego Scripps Ship Operations and Marine Technical Support, and operate deep-sea research vessels on behalf of the entire University of California system.

“The Nimitz Marine Facility is now well positioned to serve as America’s finest oceanographic support center for the next half-century and beyond,” said Bruce Appelgate, head of Scripps Ship Operations and Marine Technical Support.

For more than 50 years, the Nimitz Marine Facility on San Diego Bay has served as the homeport and operations base for the Scripps academic research fleet. Home to research vessels Roger Revelle, Robert Gordon Sproul, and research platform FLIP, the facility serves as a coordination center for research operations around the world’s oceans as part of Scripps/UC San Diego’s ongoing effort to understand and protect the planet. Later this year the facility will welcome the arrival of R/V Sally Ride, America’s newest research vessel, named for the former UC San Diego professor by the ship’s owner, the U.S. Office of Naval Research.