STUDENTS and local journalists were given a once in a lifetime chance to tour the US research vessel Roger Revelle as it docked at the Suva port yesterday.
The vessel and its crew are conducting research on underwater volcanoes between Fiji, Tonga and Samoa and briefly docked at the Suva wharf this week.
Chief scientist on board the vessel Joseph Resing said the Roger Revelle had been all over the world and was operated by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography.
He said the vessel was researching underwater volcanoes and was interested in studying the ecosystems of these volcanoes.
However, Mr Resing said the underwater volcanoes being studied did not pose a threat to Fiji as they were simply too deep to have an impact.
The San Diego-based vessel docked in the country on Wednesday and Mr Resing said the vessel had been able to witness one of the deepest underwater eruptions of a volcano during its research in the Pacific waters.
The vessel is one of six run by the world renowned Scripps Institute of Oceanography and has been to Thailand, South Africa, Australia, the Phillipines, Taiwan and Vietnam.