November 21, 2008 Research vessel retired on Cape Cod Play video

(NECN) - For 45 years, the Albatross IV has been a workplace, a home away from home and a means to collect vital fisheries data. Approximately 200 people, including former students, crewmembers and researchers, braved the cold in Woods Hole Thursday as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship was officially decommissioned.

The 187-foot research vessel was commissioned in 1963. Since then, it has gone on 453 research cruises and logged more than 650,000 total miles.

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With local, state and federal officials looking on, the ship was officially retired after the wheel was secured, the vessel's flags lowered and the running lights extinguished. The Albatross will be replaced by the $43 million Henry B. Bigelow, a 209-foot ship that won't fit in the harbor without dredging.

Cape Cod Times reporter Aaron Gouveia joins NECN for a discussion.