What is an rigid-hulled inflatable boat?

A rigid-inflatable boat (RIB) or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) is a light-weight but high performance and high capacity boat constructed with a solid, shaped hull and flexible tubes at the gunwale. The design is stable and seaworthy. The inflatable collar allows the vessel to maintain buoyancy if a large quantity of water is shipped aboard. The RIB is a development of the  inflatable boat.

Usage in NOAAS Thomas Jefferson

NOAAS Thomas Jefferson is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration survey vessel.

She was originally built at the Halter Marine Shipyards in Moss Point, Mississippi as a survey ship for the US Navy. She was launched in February 1991 and commissioned as USNS Littlehales (T-AGS 52). The ship was transferred to NOAA in 2003 and was recommissioned as Thomas Jefferson on 8 July, 2003.

The ship is named for Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, in honor of his establishment of the Survey of the Coasts in 1807. The ship is 208 feet (63 m) long and has a beam of 45 feet (14 m). The ship has a total of 36 bunk spaces. Capacity for 22 people to eat at time can be found in the mess rooms.

The deck equipment features two winches, two fixed cranes, and a C-frame.

Thomas Jefferson has approximately 700 square feet (65 m2) of lab space. The ship is equipped with an intermediate depth multi-beam swath survey system. The vessel carries two aluminum survey launches equipped with multi-beam swath and single beam echo sounders and a hydrographic data acquisition system. There is an additional rigid-hulled inflatable boat serving as a fast rescue boat.