An artist’s rendering of a building that the Quonset Development Corporation will use to house scientists and staff of the research vessel Okeanos Explorer.

Courtesy of Quonset Development Corp.

NORTH KINGSTOWN — Governor Carcieri was joined Monday by Sen. Jack Reed and other state and federal officials to break ground on the new headquarters for staff and scientists from the Okeanos Explorer, a one-of-a-kind federal research vessel that will make Davisville its home port.

The officials were on hand not just to mark the groundbreaking for the $1.8-million building in the state-owned Quonset Business Park but also to celebrate the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s decision to bring the state-of-the-art ship to Rhode Island. They believe it will be an essential part of an ocean research community in the state centered around the nearby University of Rhode Island.

Bob Ballard, director of the university’s Institute of Archeological Oceanography and the discoverer of the wreck of the Titanic, said Rhode Island had to fend off fierce competition from Hawaii, Alaska and other Pacific Coast states to become the home port for the Okeanos. “We see a great, great future not just for the citizens of Rhode Island but the citizens of our country,” he told attendees at the ceremony on the Davisville waterfront.

The Okeanos is the only U.S. government ship dedicated solely to exploring unknown parts of the ocean. It is a former Navy surveillance ship that was obtained by NOAA in 2005 and converted at a shipyard in Seattle into a deep-sea research vessel.

The ship, named for the Greek word for “oceans,” was commissioned in August 2008, equipped with the latest technology for ocean mapping, deployment of unmanned submersibles, onboard laboratories and real-time transmission of images and data collected during expeditions.

In April, the board of directors of the Quonset Development Corporation approved an agreement to lease pier space in the waterfront business park to NOAA to dock the 224-foot vessel. Under a 10-year lease, which will go into effect July 1, 2010, the federal agency will pay $600,000 annually to use Pier One in the Port of Davisville. The agreement includes an option to renew the lease for another five years for $753,000 a year.

That agreement followed years of legwork by the state. The lobbying effort, which started in 2004, was led by Reed and Carcieri.

NOAA was attracted to the infrastructure at Davisville. Marine research resources that already exist in Rhode Island also appealed to the federal agency. They include facilities at Naval Station Newport and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. The NOAA ship Henry B. Bigelow is docked in Newport. URI’s Bay campus is home to the research ship Endeavor. And the university started construction on a $15-million Underwater Exploration Center at the campus on Narragansett Bay in 2007.

Scientists from the Okeanos will complement work being done elsewhere in the state.

“The homeporting is significant because it puts these experts on land here when they’re not at sea,” Reed said.

“We’ve built a real partnership here in terms of expertise,” Carcieri said.

The ship is currently being tested in the waters around Hawaii. It’s set to arrive in Rhode Island in 2011.

After the ceremony Monday afternoon, Rear Adm. Jonathan W. Bailey, director of the NOAA Corps and the agency’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, said there’s a reason why more than one state was interested in being home port for the Okeanos.

“It’s a very unique ship,” he said. “There’s no one else doing what the Okeanos is doing.”

akuffner@projo.com