RV Belgica (A962)

Belgica is a Belgian research vessel which was built in 1984. She is manned by the Belgian Naval Component and is in active service under command of corvette captain Luc De Maesschalck.

Description
Belgica is 51.12 m long, with a beam of 10.00 m and a draught of 4.60 m. Assessed at, , she has a displacement of 1,200 tons. The ship is propelled by a 1570 hp ABC 6M DZC1000-150 diesel engine, driving a kort nozzle ducted propeller. She has a 150 kW bow and stern thruster and a 82 kW electric motor.

Belgica has an endurance of 20000 nmi at 12 kn. Her maximum speed is 13.5 kn. She is fitted with a Kongsberg EM 1002 and EM 3002 sonar and an acoustic doppler current profiler. There are five laboratories on board. Power is provided by two diesel powered generators of 275 kW each.

History
Belgica was built by Boelwerf, Temse. She was launched on 6 January 1984 and commissioned on 5 July 1984. Her homeport is Zeebrugge. She is allocated the IMO Number 8222563, MMSI Number 205218000 and Pennant number A962. Belgica uses the callsign ORGQ.

Belgica is operated by the Management Unit of North Sea Mathematical Models (MUMM) and crewed by the Belgian Naval Component. Her homeport is Zeebrugge.

In 2013 mechanical problems caused the aging vessel to be taken out of service for four weeks, which prompted the Belgian government to plan its replacement by 2017.