Photo: NOAA Photo Library / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
When NOAA chose Newport as the home of its Pacific research fleet, the decision drew attention across the state. The Marine Operations Center-Pacific opened at the Port of Newport’s South Beach site in 2011, after the fleet moved from Seattle.
Ships, crews and suppliers
The center is home port for several NOAA ships that do fisheries surveys, ocean mapping and research along the West Coast and beyond. Ships in port need fuel, food, repairs and supplies, and crews spend money in town between cruises.
A port tenant
The facility was built on Port of Newport land, and the lease gives the port a stable tenant. That matters for a public port whose income otherwise rises and falls with the fishing seasons.
Part of a science cluster
Together with OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center and the aquarium, the NOAA base has helped make South Beach one of the country’s notable concentrations of ocean science. That brings visiting scientists, contractors and occasional conferences to a small coastal city.
Silas Kerrigan covers business, the tourism economy and household finance in Lincoln County.
