National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Board Room 1235
Arlington, VA 22230
INTRODUCTION:
This report is a summary of the discussions at the UNOLS Ship Scheduling Meeting held at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia on 11 September 1995. The full scheduling committee met to present schedules and deliberate on the funding implication for 1996. In addition to the schedulers from the UNOLS operator institutions, agency representatives and program managers from NSF, ONR, NOAA and the USCG attended. The meeting agenda was followed except as indicated herein. A copy of the agenda is included as Appendix I. A list of the attendees is appended as Appendix II.
Schedulers provided the UNOLS Office with the latest 1996 proposed schedules. These schedules were posted on OCEANIC. Schedulers also provided the UNOLS Office their best estimates of the costs to support these schedules. A summary of these costs is included as Appendix III. In advance of the meeting the UNOLS Office distributed an inventory list of the 1996 and 1997 ship time requests (NSF Form 831) held by the UNOLS Office. Copies of these inventories are included as Appendix IV & V respectively. Copies of the 1996 ships' cruise tracks are included as Appendix VI.
The meeting was called to order at 0830 by the Ship Scheduling Committee Chair, Don Moller. Introductions were made around the room. Don explained that because of the early NSF panel deadline the vast majority of the funding decisions were made during the summer permitting the scheduling process to be more complete at this time. He indicated that the east coast intermediates required close coordination due to NSF's GLOBEC, ONR's Coastal Mixing & Optics and DOE's Ocean Margins Programs. The Class I and II ships' schedules were driven by the need to coordinate the HMR-1, OBS instruments and ARGO-II/JASON/AMS-120 vehicles.
Below is a ship by ship discussion presented by the schedulers of the respective institutions. The listing is in the order presented.
REVIEW AND UPDATE OF SCHEDULES:
BARNES - University of Washington - Robert Hinton provided the 1996 BARNES schedule of 102 days reporting that it was reasonably firm. Ingalls would like his cruise to go in 1997. Robert added that they could add the Deming OPP work.
BLUE FIN - Skidaway - A Skidaway representative was not available. Dolly Dieter reported that BLUE FIN had a very good schedule that was likely to grow. Dolly said that Wiegart had requested GYRE but because of draft limitations would be moved to BLUE FIN.
CALANUS - University of Miami - Dave Powell presented an 87 day schedule for CALANUS. Only 14 days are funded with 48 days listed as tentative for ONR and 15 days of NOAA/Other proposed.
LAURENTIAN - University of Michigan - Linda Goad provided a schedule for LAURENTIAN with 45.5 funded days and 13 proposed. Linda was encouraged to seek out other agency ship time including NOAA and EPA.
LONGHORN - University of Texas - A UT representative was not available. They had filed a schedule for 1996 with 68 NSF funded days and 32 funded State days for a total of 100. Dolly Dieter informed the Committee that the 28 days of Ingall time could change.
PELICAN - LUMCON - Steve Rabalais reported that PELICAN picked up 80 days of NOAA ship time late in 1995 which significantly helped their year. The 1996 PELICAN schedule includes 123 days, 75 of which are funded. The total days could change if the MMS work goes to GYRE.
ALPHA HELIX - University of Alaska - Tom Royer reported that ALPHA HELIX was able to get Russian clearances for its 1995 work. The 1996 schedule reflects 174 ship days with only 51 of these days funded. There are 123 proposed days for OPP on the schedule. This is an unusual number of proposed days and could cause a major change in the schedule if they are not all funded. The late notification of OPP makes it difficult to work out a day rate for the ship.
MOANA WAVE - University of Hawaii - MOANA WAVE's schedule was presented by Stan Winslow. The ship picked up 51 days of ATOC time in 1995. The 1996 schedule reflects 155 days with 38 of these days still pending. The schedule includes a single cruise for Taylor in the western Pacific with 20 days of transit and 33 days of science.
WECOMA - Oregon State University - Fred Jones reported for WECOMA. Their light schedule of 180 days is primarily around Newport except for a joint operation with the French in the San Diego area. This cruise of 56 days for WECOMA was originally scheduled aboard NEW HORIZON.
POINT SUR - Moss Landing Marine Laboratories - The schedule of POINT SUR was presented by Mike Prince. The ship is planning an extended overhaul at the first of the 1996 year with the regular schedule starting in April. A total of 142 days has been scheduled with 106 of these days presently funded. Mike reported that the Naval Postgraduate School will be committing approximately $250K for ship time in 1996. This is good news since the NPS funding for ship time had been in question.
NEW HORIZON - Scripps - Liz Rios provided the schedule for NEW HORIZON. The ship's 1996 schedule is based on the anticipation of a mid-life overhaul through April. There are 176 days scheduled for the remainder of the year with six of these days in the pending status. Craig Smith will be scheduled in 1996 with 1995 carry-over funds.
ROBERT GORDON SPROUL - Scripps - Liz continued with the schedule for SPROUL. Presently the schedule reflects 149 days of which 120 are funded. The ship will remain in the San Diego area except for a joint operation with BARNES. Liz reports the SPROUL schedule typically picks up additional work as the year progresses.
GYRE - Texas A & M - Dave Powell of the University of Miami provided the schedule for TAMU and GYRE. Dave reported that TAMU and RSMAS are reviving the SECOR consortium and are planning joint marine operations. He announced that Dean Letzring, the Marine Superintendent at TAMU, will be retiring this fall. GYRE has 14 days of proposed NSF ship time scheduled for 1996. They are expecting about 80 days of local work.
EDWIN LINK - Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution - Tim Askew provided the 1996 schedule for EDWIN LINK. The ship is planning 21 days of NSF science and 218 days of other work. This includes NOAA science and a proposed cruise to New Zealand for Smithsonian. Funding for this cruise is still being worked out.
SEA DIVER - Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution - Tim Askew also provided the schedule for SEA DIVER. This ship is scheduled for 116 days in 1996. NSF is planning for 54 days, ONR for 19 and Other for 43 days. All but 35 of the Other days are funded.
WEATHERBIRD II - Bermuda Biological Research Station - The WEATHERBIRD II 1996 schedule was presented by Lee Black. The ship is planning for a shipyard period in January and has scheduled 194 operating days for the year. The Davis work double booked with SEA DIVER will go aboard WEATHERBIRD II. Lee was advised that the BATS related cruises would total no more than 96 days.
CAPE HENLOPEN - University of Delaware - Tim Pfeiffer presented a schedule for CAPE HENLOPEN of 206 days for 1996. All of the work is local which includes 158 days of NSF time and 44 days of ONR time. This is a heavy schedule for CAPE HENLOPEN.
CAPE HATTERAS - Duke/UNC - CAPE HATTERAS will lay-up in 1996. No schedule was presented.
OCEANUS - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - Don Moller provided the schedule for OCEANUS which included 211 days, of which 207 are presently funded. Don reported that the scheduling for OCEANUS was done in coordination with URI's ENDEAVOR and HBOI's SEWARD JOHNSON. This was necessary to work in all the programs of GLOBEC, NSF; Coastal Mixing & Optics, ONR and the Ocean Margin Program of DOE.
SEWARD JOHNSON - Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution - Tim Askew presented a fully funded 302 day schedule for SEWARD JOHNSON. They will spend the first portion of the year in the central and south Atlantic then return to the north Atlantic for the coordinated work with OCEANUS and ENDEAVOR.
ENDEAVOR - University of Rhode Island - ENDEAVOR's 1996 schedule was reported by Bill Hahn. The ship is scheduled for 205 days. As noted above, this work was closely coordinated with the schedules of OCEANUS and SEWARD JOHNSON.
ATLANTIS II - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - Don Moller provided the schedule for ATLANTIS II. The ship will remain in the Pacific to start the year then work its way into the Atlantic and to WHOI. A total of 165 days are planned which will include a tentative 96 ALVIN dives. ATLANTIS II is scheduled to be retired after this schedule is complete.
Don Moller explained that the remainder of the large ships required significant coordination to ensure the efficient transfer of the HMR-1, OBS instruments and ARGO-II/JASON/AMS120 vehicles.
KNORR - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - Don Moller started KNORR's schedule with the late 1995 cruises. KNORR will be completing its Indian Ocean cruises and will work its way back to WHOI. A Madsen cruise is scheduled for early 1996 and will require the, yet fully tested, SeaBeam. If the system is not ready, significant schedule changes will be required. After Madsen the ship will do JASON work for Fornari and a NUWC cruise in the Baltic. A total of 258 days are scheduled for KNORR in 1996.
EWING - Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory - Mike Rawson started his presentation by reporting that EWING picked up JOI and China funding for 1995. The ship is scheduled for 311 days of ship time for 1996. For accounting purposes 7 days will be carried over from 1995. The ship schedule is driven by the coordination of the HMR-1 instrument and the MELT OBS releases. EWING will begin the year in the New Zealand area, work through the Pacific, transit the Panama Canal, work as far north as Greenland and will end the year in Miami.
MELVILLE - Scripps - Liz Rios presented a 296 day schedule for MELVILLE. The ship starts the year in New Zealand, works in the Indian Ocean then taking cruises through the Pacific to San Diego. An out-of-service period is planned for the ship in San Diego for the summer months continuing with three cruises in the central and south Pacific. The ship will end the year in Punta Arenas, Chile.
ROGER REVELLE - Scripps - REVELLE will be going through delivery and outfitting from January to the end of September 1996. After this period it has a series of short University of California funded cruises and one, one day ONR cruise.
THOMPSON - University of Washington - THOMPSON's 1996 schedule was presented by Robert Hinton which included a light 248 days. The State will be funding 74 of these days. A dry docking is planned for July. The ship will receive ARGO/JASON from KNORR for the Johnson work in the Juan de Fuca area then ship it to MELVILLE for Haymond.
Robert Hinton gave the Committee a demonstration of placing the ship time request forms on the Wide World Web. Robert's efforts included a form (similar to the NSF Form 831) that could be completed by the scientist needing ship time. The form could then be printed and part of his/her proposal. It would also be put in file and used by the UNOLS Schedulers, the UNOLS Office and the agencies for scheduling purposes. It could also be archived and used for statistical analysis. Robert further showed the Committee a sample cruise track chart. It was designed so that a click on the PI of a particular cruise would call up the ship time request of that cruise providing useful information. Further development of this procedure will be made and the process is planned for implementation when ready.
Jack Bash presented a summary of the costs for operating the fleet in 1996. These figures were assembled by the UNOLS Office from data submitted by the operators. A copy of these costs are included as Appendix III.
FEDERAL AGENCY REPORTS:
National Science Foundation - Dolly Dieter provided the National Science Foundation report by first announcing that the new proposal guidelines are out. Copies were available for the schedulers. The NSF 1996 budget is expected to be a 1-2% decrease over 1995. Dolly informed the Committee that she would not be receiving overhaul money in the operations budget this year as she had in 1995.
Office of Naval Research - The ONR report was given by Annette DeSilva. ONR's Research Facility program is expecting level funding for 1996 which will be about $5M. In the past, ONR has used a formula for funding ship time of 55% from the facilities budget and 45% from the science budget. In an attempt to stimulate more ship use they plan to change the formula to 80:20 facilities:science. The results of this change will not be felt until 1997 since most funding decisions for 1996 have already been made. ONR plans to continue to match NRL ship time money up to $500K.
On the personnel side, Sujata Millick is expected to be onboard in ONR's Research Facilities Program this fall. The construction of both AGOR 24 and 25 are going well. AGOR 24, ROGER REVELLE, was launched in April and is scheduled for delivery in June 1996. AGOR 25, ATLANTIS, is scheduled for launch in February 1996 and delivery in April 1997. The cost information for converting ATLANTIS to a submersible handling ship is being worked up by Halter Marine. This information should be available at ONR by the end of September when ONR and NSF will jointly decide whether or not to do the conversion.
The Navy funded an overhaul for FLIP this past year. As part of the overhaul a stress monitoring system was installed. The monitoring results will be examined this fall to determine how structural repairs are holding up. An agreement has been developed between ONR, NAVOCEANO and NSF for making gravimiters available to the community. A committee chaired by Dan Fornari has been set up to coordinate their use. The gravimiters will be maintained by NAVOCEANO.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - Scott McKellar provide the NOAA report. By the end of September, the NOAA ships SURVEYOR, MT MITCHELL, and HECK will be taken off line, joining the already inactive OCEANOGRAPHER, FAIRWEATHER, and DAVIDSON. NOAA's converted TAGOS will be taking the operating funds of SURVEYOR. BALDRIGE is expected to operate less than desired in 1996. Repairs to Extend (RTE) the life of the fisheries research vessel DELAWARE II is underway. Backfill chartering for this ship has gone to UNOLS and commercial ships. Chartering is also planned for Antarctic work.
The 1996 NOAA budget is still in Congress but it looks like the fleet operations will be about the same as 1995. FRAM money is expected to be reduced to $8M which will be a problem if the House language remains which limits this money to chartering. FRAM money has been used for ship acquisition, ship overhaul and maintenance as well as chartering. In the past the maintenance money alone has equaled about $10M. The NOAA/NURP funding is hopeful but very uncertain. The House version calls for $12M and the Senate version $14M.
United States Coast Guard - Steve Wheeler provided the update for the USCG. Steve reported that the USCG budget was to decline 20% over the next four years, however, they expect 100% funding in 1996 for operating, maintenance, acquisition and construction funds for the Polar Icebreakers. No science missions have been requested for 1995 or 1996. A mission has been proposed for 1997. Steve said that an International agreement has been worked out with the Canadians that would grandfather ships with CASPPR compliance if they are launched prior to 31 December 1998. HEALY is scheduled for launching prior to that time.
HEALY is on track for construction starting next year. Steve provided view graphs of HEALY characteristics which are included as Appendix VII.
The meeting was adjourned at 1300.
11 SEPTEMBER 1995
BOARD ROOM 1235, NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
A Ship Scheduling Review meeting was held at the National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA on 11 September 1995. The meeting was opened by the Chair of the Ship Scheduling Committee (SSC), Don Moller, at 1500 hrs. Present were the SSC Vice Chair, Robert Hinton; NSF Representative, Dolly Dieter; ONR Representative, Annette DeSilva; NOAA Representative, Scott McKellar and UNOLS Executive Secretary, Jack Bash.
UNOLS ship schedulers had provided via e-mail their proposed ship schedules for 1996 (also filed on OCEANIC) and the estimated cost to support these schedules (see Appendix III). Also provided, where appropriate, were ship tracks (see Appendix VI). The UNOLS Office developed an inventory of the ship time requests (Form 831) included as Appendix IV & V. This information was used as the basis of the review deliberations. The purpose of the deliberations was to ensure all funded science was assigned to the ship(s) that could provide the most effective and efficient platform. Recommendations for consolidation of schedules and lay-up periods were suggested in an effort to develop the most cost effective schedules possible while maintaining appropriate platforms for the science. This review was the final cut at the 1996 scheduling process. Most funding decisions have been confirmed which was the result of the new panel dates for NSF and the early funding decisions by ONR. This departure from previous years has allowed the scheduling process to arrive at final or near final schedules more efficiently and effectively.
Below is a ship by ship summary of the Review Group's deliberations. It should be noted that many of the ships will be operating in 1996 well below the desired number of days. This is an undesirable situation and will result in inefficiencies of ship operations.
BARNES - University of Washington - A modest schedule of about 100 days appears likely. The Ingall work may be moved into 1997. Deming funding (OPP) will not be known until the end of the year.
BLUE FIN - Skidaway - Wiegert's work moved from GYRE to BLUE FIN because of vessel draft considerations. BLUE FIN will have a modest schedule of about 100 days.
CALANUS - University of Miami, RSMAS - The three cruises, totaling 24 days, for Fell are the only funded cruises scheduled on CALANUS. The 48 days of ONR work has not yet been proposed. There are 15 additional days of proposed work scheduled. If a reasonable schedule does not materialize it is recommended that Miami consider laying up CALANUS for the year unless the funded science can be accommodated at a day rate consistent with a fuller schedule.
LAURENTIAN - University of Michigan - A modest 52 day schedule is planned for LAURENTIAN. The University of Michigan is encouraged to continue working with NOAA, EPA, and USGS to coordinate science programs and ship use to make the maximum efficient use of the facilities available.
LONGHORN - University of Texas - A modest 100 days of work is scheduled for LONGHORN. The Ingall work has been carried from 1995 to the 1996 schedule because of transducer problems.
PELICAN - LUMCON - PELICAN has 123 scheduled days of which 56 are presently funded. This could decrease if the MMS work moves to GYRE. Effort should be made to coordinate the Paul and Kamykowski cruises to reduce transit time.
ALPHA HELIX - University of Alaska - A full schedule of 174 days has been presented for ALPHA HELIX, however, only 51 of these days are presently funded. Funding results for the OPP work will not be known until after the first of the year and this schedule could change significantly.
MOANA WAVE - University of Hawaii - MOANA WAVE's schedule is centered around the HOTS work off Hawaii with the exception of the Taylor cruise. The Taylor science has been funded for 26 days, however, a total of 53 days has been schedule for the cruise. An additional HOTS cruise could be funded if the Taylor work were to be streamlined to 46 days (26 science, 20 transit). Without such efficiencies it may be necessary to recommend a year lay up for this ship.
WECOMA - Oregon State University - A very light 180 day schedule has been presented for WECOMA. The Siebenaller work listed as proposed has been funded. The Review Group is concerned that the viability of this schedule is based on the Felbeck cruise run as a joint operation with the French. If the French work does not materialize the entire 56 day operation would fall out of the schedule. In the event of the loss of Felbeck, OSU should look at consolidating the remaining schedule in the most efficient way possible to permit a day rate that does not exceed the already high day rate presented.
POINT SUR - Moss Landing Marine Laboratories - The POINT SUR schedule is constructed to permit the first three months of the year to be open. This time coupled with the time in December 1995 has been set aside for an extended overhaul period. A modest schedule of 142 days remains, however, 36 of these days are pending funding decisions.
NEW HORIZON - Scripps - The schedule of 176 days for NEW HORIZON includes a mid life refit for the ship. Only six of these days are still in the pending category. The Review Group understands that both Ken Smith and Craig Smith will be accommodated without additional funding.
ROBERT GORDON SPROUL - Scripps - A healthy schedule of 149 days has been presented for SPROUL with 29 of these days in the pending category. SPROUL normally picks up additional work throughout the year. It should be noted that the Hildebrand cruise is listed as ONR with a NSF OCE number. It was also noted that the cruises of Chave, Davis, Macha and Hildebrand have apparently been rolled into the 1996 schedule from funded 1995 programs, a practice which creates funding problems for the sponsoring agencies.
GYRE - Texas A & M University - The 14 day cruise of Bryant/Silva is the only federally funding work presently on the GYRE schedule. The proposal for this work has not been received by the facilities section of NSF and was believed to have been planned for state funding. In addition the follow-on coring work will not be scheduled for 1996. A clarification of this issue is needed.
COLUMBUS ISELIN University of Miami - COLUMBUS ISELIN will remain out of service.
CAPE HATTERAS - Duke/UNC - CAPE HATTERAS will be in lay-up in 1996. It is understood that an overhaul plan is being proposed for CAPE HATTERAS which includes a stretch of the ship. The Review Group is concerned as to the timing of this work. It is considered unlikely that plans, drawings and funding can be affected for this work in 1996. These overhaul plans should be coordinated with MARCO.
EDWIN LINK - Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution - EDWIN LINK's schedule is primarily dependent on NOAA, Smithsonian and private funding. The only program of concern to the Review Group was the Cook's cruise where the number of days should be checked.
SEA DIVER - Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution - SEA DIVER has presented a modest schedule of 116 days of which 81 days are presently funded. The Davis work will be handled by WEATHERBIRD II reducing the funded days to 62.
WEATHERBIRD II - Bermuda Biological Station - The WEATHERBIRD II's schedule should be adjusted to reflect just 96 days assigned to BATS and BATS related cruises. The day rate presented for this size ship is very high.
CAPE HENLOPEN - University of Delaware - A very full schedule of 206 days has been presented for CAPE HENLOPEN.
OCEANUS - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - The OCEANUS schedule presents a solid but light 211 days. This schedule has been closely integrated with that of ENDEAVOR and SEWARD JOHNSON combining the NSF/GLOBEC, ONR/Coastal Ocean Mixing & Optics and DOE Ocean Margins programs. The Marten cruise may be reduced in the number of days.
SEWARD JOHNSON - Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution - The SEWARD JOHNSON 302 day schedule is totally funded and is driven by work in the southern and mid-Atlantic.
ENDEAVOR - University of Rhode Island - ENDEAVOR's schedule has been integrated with that of OCEANUS and SEWARD JOHNSON as noted above. The Marten work may be transferred to a Harbor Branch vessel if funding for a submersible is obtained. One GLOBEC cruise still needs to be scheduled (Irish). The WOCE work (Watts) is still pending. It should be noted that the Larsen work is NOAA and not NSF. OCEANUS and ENDEAVOR schedules may need to be adjusted to accommodate this cruise.
Large ship considerations - Considerable discussion centered around the large ship schedules. Driving the concern was the coordination of the research tools to be used. Specifically, the coordination of HMR-1, OBS instruments and ARGO-II/JASON/AMS-120 vehicles. The schedules recommended below were predicated on coordination of these three facilities.
ATLANTIS II - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - ATLANTIS II presently has 170 days and 96 dives for ALVIN scheduled. This schedule is concentrated in the first two thirds of the year after which ATLANTIS II will stand down. This schedule is subject to change after the results of the November panel are known.
KNORR - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - A schedule of 258 days has been presented for KNORR. This schedule starts in the Indian Ocean and ends at WHOI. Two early cruises will be dependent on a SeaBeam operation. If the newly installed SeaBeam is not performing adequately major schedule changes will be required. KNORR has a pending program with NUWC funding in the Baltic Sea.
EWING - Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory - EWING will have a solid 311 day schedule for 1996. Seven of these days have been carried forward from 1995.
MELVILLE - Scripps - MELVILLE will start the year in the Indian Ocean and work back to San Diego where it will stand down for approximately two months. The remaining portion of the schedule will be driven by the coordination of the shipping of the ARGO/JASON vehicles for the Haymon cruise. The present schedule calls for the ship to depart San Diego in early September for the MacDonald cruise followed by Haymon and Lonsdale. This schedule is predicated on the idea that ARGO/JASON can be shipped from Seattle to San Diego in time for the MacDonald departure. It is unlikely that ARGO/JASON will be available as early as 1 September because its Johnson work on THOMPSON in the Juan de Fuca area will not be completed in time to meet that date. The Review Group therefore recommends that Scripps investigate the possibility of completing MacDonald's work prior to the stand down period and immediately after Bloomer. This will permit additional time to complete the Johnson work and the shipping of ARGO/JASON. The Review Group notes the extraordinary high day rate for this ship and recommends a re-evaluation of the numbers.
REVELLE - Scripps - The REVELLE schedule includes 27 days of institutional funding and 1 ONR day for 1996.
THOMPSON - University of Washington - THOMPSON will schedule 74 days of State time in its 248 day schedule for 1996. The ship will start the year in the Indian Ocean and work its way back to the Pacific northwest. A dry dock is scheduled for July. THOMPSON will be positioned for the Johnson and ARGO/JASON work in the Juan de Fuca area when ARGO/JASON is available having been shipped from Bremerhaven.
The meeting was adjourned at 1700 hrs.