BCKDF provides UVic with $13.3M for ocean research

The Government of British Columbia is providing $13.3 million for ocean research at the Univ of Victoria for the refitting of and the research vessel Tsekoa II and an expansion of the VENUS undersea sensor network. The BC Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF) will provide $8.9 million towards the refitting of the former Coast Guard vessel, transforming it into North America's first fuel cell plug-in hybrid green ship. The refitting will extend the ship by more than six metres by cutting the vessel in half and inserting a new section to house a science laboratory and additional berths. The ship will also be used by the Univ of British Columbia, Simon Fraser Univ, Vancouver Island Univ and the Univ of Alberta. A $10.9-million expansion of the VENUS network includes will see $4.4 million going to new instrumentation in the Strait of Georgia and Saanich Inlet. The BCKDF funding matches money received from the Canada Foundation for Innovation. An additional $2.1 million was secured for VENUS from UVic and industry partners....