 NOAA replaced her with the survey ship NOAAS "Thomas Jefferson" (S 222).After "Whiting" was decommissioned, the United States Congress authorized her transfer to Mexico with the stipulation that Mexico employ her in supporting the hydrographic activities of the United States-Mexico Cooperative Charting Advisory Committee so as to enhance cooperation between the United States and Mexico in surveying and charting the border waters of both countries in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Pacific Ocean.Accordingly, by the authority of the United States Secretary of Commerce, "Whiting" was transferred to Mexico in a ceremony at Norfolk, Virginia, on 28 April 2005.