Students in grades 6-12 in the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont have an opportunity to name a ship for NOAA. The primary mission of the Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull Coastal Mapping Vessel, or SWATH CMV, will be to map the full seafloor in coastal areas for the nation's nautical charts. It will operate in waterways along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, Caribbean Sea and Great Lakes, conducting basic hydrographic surveys of the seafloor using side scan and multibeam sonar technologies.

The ship naming competition begins in February 2007, and it is anticipated that the winning team will be announced no later than May 2007. Teachers and student advisors are encouraged to think about how to bring this program into the curriculum and to collect the materials needed to help their students participate in the competition.