The center provides management of 10 NOAA vessels and serves as the home port for NOAA ships including the Rainier, Miller Freeman and McArthur II. The Bell M. Shimada is expected to join the fleet there next year.
NOAA officials said they selected the Oregon port "following a rigorous process involving an extensive review of proposals submitted by sites in Washington and Oregon," said Rear Adm. Jonathan Bailey, director of the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations and the NOAA Corps., in a statement.
According to NOAA, services to all of the ships include technical support and management of marine and electronic engineering for maintenance and repairs, operational and program liaison for vessel operations, as well as administrative and logistical support for vessel operations.
"I am extremely disappointed by NOAA's announcement today that it intends to relocate its marine operations center to Newport, Ore., and intend to fight it ... I seriously question whether relocating NOAA's ships outside of the Puget Sound is really the right move for NOAA ... I'm not confident that all options have been thoroughly reviewed through this process," Cantwell said in a statement.