WASHINGTON – Quonset Business Park will become the home of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Okeanos Explorer vessel for at least a decade.

A $623,000-a-year lease signed by NOAA and the Quonset Development Corporation will allow the 224-foot ship to berth at Pier One in the Port of Davisville, according to an announcement from U.S. Sen. Jack Reed’s office. The lease has an option to renew for five years at $753,000 annually.

QDC will build a new 8,280-square-foot building to house the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. That Energy Star-rated facility will open in July 2010, according to Reed’s office.

In a statement, Reed said he was pleased that the vessel would be coming to Rhode Island. “This is a good deal for the federal government and will have a positive economic impact on our state,” he said, adding, “This research vessel will provide us with fascinating new information about our oceans and help keep Rhode Island on the cutting edge of ocean exploration and marine research.”

The Okeanos will spend 250 days of the year exploring the world’s oceans and the rest docked in Quonset.