The R/V Odyssey, which returns to the U.S. this week from a five-year round-the-world study expedition, is equipped with a Marine Air chilled-water air conditioning system supplied by Dometic Environmental Corporation, an official sponsor of the 93-ft. sailing vessel.

“The Marine Air system has been a mission-critical item of equipment for the ship,” said Iain Kerr, CEO of Ocean Alliance. “The Odyssey has been at sea almost constantly for the last eight years, much of it in the tropics, and the Marine Air chilled water system is vitally important for crew comfort and more importantly to protect the scientific equipment on the vessel from damage due to heat and humidity.”

Last year, Dometic supplied a new four-ton (48,000 BTU) chiller to replace the existing Marine Air chiller unit, which had been originally installed on the vessel 11 years earlier. The installation was performed at Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

“The Marine Air system has given us years of trouble-free performance under some of the most demanding conditions, running around the clock in the tropics,” said Kerr. “And the Dometic team provided a level of factory support that is unmatched in my experience, shipping the unit to meet the Odyssey in the Indian Ocean and giving us useful advice on the best way to complete the installation.”

The 93-ft. steel-hull ketch serves as a mobile research platform for Ocean Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to whale research. The vessel was constructed in Whangerei, New Zealand, in 1976, and was donated to Ocean Alliance in 1991. It is fitted with state-of-the-art research and communication equipment and is one of the most advanced research vessels involved in the study of whales today. The Odyssey is just completing a five-year circumnavigation to examine the concentration, distribution and effects of persistent organic pollutants on marine life throughout the world’s oceans.

The Odyssey will celebrate its return to its home port of Boston with a press conference on Wednesday, August 17, 2005. The vessel will be berthed at the Moakley Courthouse Dock.

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