The ship's construction contract was awarded 20 February 1987 to VT Halter Marine, Inc. of Moss Point, Mississippi, under then name Intrepid.

[3] Resolution replaced HMNZ Ships Tui and Monowai as the navy's primary survey and acoustic research vessel.

Resolution sponsored a scholarship for under-privileged high school students to participate in a 10-day passage on the sail training ship Spirit of New Zealand.

On occasion, university and high school students were embarked aboard Resolution as part of the 'Students at Sea' programme.

It was only when a dust cloud over Christchurch was observed and chatter on VHF soon alerted the bridge team of the enormity of the disaster.