Vice President Kamala Harris husband Douglas Emhoff coming to Houma

Douglas Emhoff, the husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, will travel to Houma Oct. 28 to attend the keel laying ceremony of the newest ship being built for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fleet whose crew will explore and research the oceans and their impact on sea life and climate.

The second gentleman will first tour the Thoma-Sea Marine shipyard where the Discoverer is being built before the keel laying ceremony at the Barry P. Bonvillain Civic Center in Houma.

Rear Adm. Chad Cary, deputy director of the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations and the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, will join Emhoff for the event, as will NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad and shipyard director Walter Thomassie.

Discoverer and its sister ship Oceanographer are both being built by Thoma-Sea Marine in the company's Houma shipyard.

The keel-laying ceremony is a centuries-old maritime tradition signifying a significant milestone in a ship's construction. As the vessel's sponsor, Emhoff's signature will be welded onto a steel plate that will be incorporated into the ship during construction.

NOAA said the 244-foot ship will support a wide variety of missions and incorporate the latest technologies, including vessel emission controls and high-efficiency diesel engines. It will have the ability to deploy remotely operated vehicles to explore the ocean.

"Discoverer will be one of the world’s most advanced research vessels,” Rear Adm. Nancy Hann, deputy director for operations for NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) and deputy director of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, said in a news release when the project was announced in 2021. “From its Rhode Island homeport, this ship will shed new light on unexplored areas of the ocean with the promise of bringing us many exciting discoveries.”

Discoverer will eventually be based in Newport, R.I. It is expected to join the NOAA fleet in 2026.

The new ship will join NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow, a fisheries survey vessel also based in Newport at a NOAA marine support facility soon to be built at Naval Station Newport.

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: VP Kamala Harris husband Douglas Emhoff visiting Houma: Here's why