Vanuatu High Commissioner, HE Jimmy Nipo and NZMFAT made a joint tour on board MV Tangaroa.

MV Tangaroa is the largest research NZ vessel owned and operated by National Institute of Weather and Atmosphere (NIWA).

It is equipped for hydrographic, bathymetric and oceanographic surveys to measure and map various properties of the ocean and seabed; biological surveys; and for both acoustic and trawl fisheries surveys. It can trawl to 4,000 meters (13,000 ft) and conduct acoustic soundings down to 10,000 meters (33,000 ft).

Tangaroa is one out of sixty vessels owned and operated by NIWA, and it is the only vessel that has the capability of undertaking research in the Antarctic.

In the recent past, NIWA has instituted a university onboard the vessel for scientists and marine biologists to undertake hands on training onboard the vessel. NIWA advised that they will soon be making calls for interested applicants from the Pacific.

Tangaroa operates for 320 to 340 days per year conducting fisheries research in New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone and marine research in the waters surrounding Antarctica.