Appendices
1 July 1998
WELCOME & INTRODUCTION - The UNOLS Council met in the Sycamore Lodge conference room at the Whispering Pines Conference Center, W. Alton Jones Campus of the University of Rhode Island on 1-2 July 1998. The meeting was called to order at 0830 by Ken Johnson, UNOLS Chair. The items of the agenda, Appendix I, were addressed in the order as reported below. The participants of the meeting are listed in Appendix II.
All participants introduced themselves and Ken asked for any additions to the agenda. Three items were added to the agenda, discussion on Science Mission Requirements (SMRs), ATLANTIS test schedule and discussion on RV BLUE HERON.
ACCEPT MINUTES - The meeting minutes of the UNOLS Council February meeting were accepted as written.
COMMITTEE REPORTS - Committee reports were provided in advance to Ken Johnson, and included as Appendix III. The committee chairs provided updates not included in their reports. Below is a brief summary of these reports.
Research Vessel Technical Enhancement Committee (RVTEC) - Ken reported that RVTEC would be hosting the second International Marine Technician Workshop (INMARTECH ‘98) conference in conjunction with their annual meeting. INMARTECH ‘98 will be held on 20-22 October in La Jolla, CA. The regular annual RVTEC meeting will be held the day before this conference on the 19th. RVTEC has been playing a major role is lending support for the Arctic Icebreaker Coordination Committee (AICC) in their effort to provide science systems testing for the USCG’s icebreaker, MICHAEL HEALY, currently under construction at Avondale Shipyard in Louisiana.
Fleet Improvement Committee (FIC) - The Fleet Improvement Committee has been concentrating its efforts in developing Science Mission Requirements (SMRs) for an east coast intermediate sized vessel as well as a vessel suitable for the waters off Alaska. This second vessel requirements will have ice strengthening and will be capable of fisheries research.
DEep Submergence Science Committee (DESSC) - The DESSC has been working on an archiving policy for data collected using the National Deep Submergence Facility assets. They are also developing a “White Paper” on deep submergence science. Plans are being discussed for a national workshop to address future deep submergence asset needs. The committee is also working on the update of their Terms of Reference.
Arctic Icebreaker Coordinating Committee (AICC) - The AICC has been working with the RVTEC and the USCG in developing test procedures for testing the science systems on the Coast Guard icebreaker, MICHAEL HEALY. The AICC also sees their role as a advocacy group for Arctic science, similar to that of DESSC with the deep submergence community, and will be working on expeditionary planning for Arctic research. The terms of two AICC members will be coming up this fall. A brief discussion followed on the $24M in the Senate budget for facility support of Arctic science. There has been no decision on whether there will be operation support for HEALY. Without a subsidized dayrate, the ship may be too expensive to the science users. The AICC coordinated a Science of Opportunity cruise for POLAR SEA which is currently operating in the western Arctic.
Research Vessel Operators’ Committee (RVOC) - The RVOC will be holding their annual meeting this year on 4-6 November at the University of Hawaii. The RVOC Safety Committee has been working on a safety video that will be used by all ships as an introduction to safety for scientists using the ships. The video is in the final stages of production and should be distributed soon. This committee is also working on an update to the RVOC Safety Standards. RVOC has a Medical Standards Committee that is working on medical standards for crew of UNOLS vessels.
Ship Scheduling Committee (SSC) - Both Ken Johnson and Don Moller discussed the trends in ship usage. Appendix IV provides a summary of ship days from 1995 to 1999. The 1999 numbers were developed from the 23 June Ship Schedule Review Meeting and reflect the schedules as posted at that time.
| Year | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
| Total Days | 4877 | 4315 | 5096 | 5399 | 4690 |
For 1998 three ships were scheduled for reduced schedules (MELVILLE half year, EWING one third year and ENDEAVOR full years lay-up) however, additional work materialized rounding out their schedules into modestly successful years. In 1999 it would appear that KNORR will not have a schedule and will lay-up. All intermediate ships reflect light schedules for 1999. The smaller ships in the Fleet are very busy. NSF had tasked the large ship operators to come up with a lay-up plan. KNORR’s lay-up represents this. In 1999, large ship totals are down roughly 100 days from 1998.
The UNOLS Fleet charge days by agency were discussed, see Appendix IV.
AGENCY and OTHER REPORTS
Department of State (DOS) - The Department of State report was provided by Tom Cocke. A meeting was held with Mexican officials concerning sovereign immunity and the boarding of NOAA vessels along with other clearance issues. At the time, it appeared that significant progress was made, however, clearances still remain difficult. This is of concern since there are three NOAA fisheries cruises coming up soon. Because the U S is not a signature to the Law of the Sea Convention clearances around the world are becoming more difficult and requiring more conditions causing the process to slow. Tom noted that Cuba requests have gone without response. Tom reported fewer clearance requests this year, probably the result of a reduction in funding of NSF proposals.
The personnel situation in Tom’s office has improved somewhat with the hiring of Elizabeth Maruschak. She is being funded for half time by NSF through CORE and hopefully be able to work full time if funding from ONR and NOAA materializes. State is working on hiring a full time backup for Tom. This issue was addressed at the FOFCC meeting. FOFCC was supportive of Tom’s need for assistance. Ken Johnson offered to write a letter to DOS expressing UNOLS support on the issue.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - Commander Beth White provided the NOAA report. NOAA’s TAGOS vessel, RELENTLESS, has been renamed GORDON GUNTER. The ship will be converted for fisheries work and will replace CHAPMAN in the Gulf of Mexico. MILLER FREEMAN will undergo a major overhaul starting in August of this year. DAVID STARR JORDON is scheduled for a major overhaul in 2000.
NOAA is completing a design review and model test for the FRV 40. This is the proposed design for the new generation acoustically quiet fisheries research vessel. Three of these ships are in the Presidential Budget (one each for 2000-2002). AQUARIUS, the undersea laboratory, is soon to get its certification.
An agreement has been reached to lift the hiring freeze on the NOAA Corps. The agreement includes a new ceiling of 240 Corps officers with no flag rank and a civilian in charge. A bill in Congress would alter this agreement to include a flag officer and increase the ceiling to 264-299. In either case recruiting will not start until next fiscal year.
RON BROWN is scheduled to operate 240 days at sea in 1999. Two NSF programs, tentatively planned for BROWN could not be scheduled (funding was declined on one and equipment scheduling conflicts prevented the other).
National Science Foundation (NSF) - The NSF report was given by Don Heinrichs. His view graphs are included as Appendix V. The NSF budget for 1999 is still pending and expectations remain the same as those reported at the February Council meeting in Galveston. The 1998 budget was flat when compared to 1997. In 1999 Ocean Science Research Support has requested a 13.7% increase. Facilities has requested $56.96M representing a 9% increase over 1998. Both the House and Senate Committees have different versions of the NSF funding bill but both show an increase. The bill goes to conference in September.
In an effort to resolve the conflicts in funding the shared use equipment/technical support for sea going programs, NSF is considering removing this support from the research proposal grant. Requests for technical support would come into the Technical Services Program. This should help to eliminate the problems associated with variable costs to the PIs when schedules change and science programs are moved from one ship to another. Some elements of this will be implemented in 1999.
Rita Colwell has been confirmed by the Senate but has not yet been sworn in. She will replace Neil Lane as Director NSF when he takes over OSDP. The Geoscience Directorate will be putting together a separate Facilities Plan of 5 years. It will respond to "What facilities are needed to implement the science plan".
The NSF newsletter is calling for an open solicitation to the science community to provide input to the academic fleet review.
Don reported that NSF will again conduct a performance review. They will most likely request assistance from the UNOLS Office in preparing the ship operations review section.
NSF is planning a symposium 28-30 October to celebrate the Foundation’s 50th anniversary. Numerous leaders from the past have been invited.
Naval Oceanographic Center (NAVO) - Pat Dennis gave the report for NAVO. NAVO is completing a second year of funding ship time for the UNOLS Fleet. The third year funding is not firm, however, it looks promising. Pat explained that this should not be considered supplemental funding of the UNOLS Fleet but should be viewed as a mutually beneficial arrangement where NAVO gets quality scientific facilities and service at a cost effective rate while UNOLS is able to maximize its schedule efficiency with the added work. Pat reiterated NAVO’s full satisfaction with the UNOLS Fleet and complemented CDR Jim Trees’ energetic and supportive role in coordinating the work.
Oceanographer of the Navy (OON) - RADM Tobin has retired as OON and has been replaced by RADM Ellis. Ed Witman, Technical Director of the OON office, is also retiring. John Dalton, Secretary of the Navy, has announced his plans for retirement. These have all been active and vocal supporters of oceanographic research and will be missed.
The Navy is presently operating seven TAG survey ships. TAG 63 is the 4th of the class and will soon join the fleet. The fifth ship, TAG 64, is under construction and should be launched in November or December. A sixth and last ship of this class should be funded in the 1999 budget. TAG 64 has been named USNS BRUCE HEEZEN. A national ship naming competition was held by the Navy. Nearly 2000 proposed names were submitted by schools across the country. The winning class were the fifth graders from Oak Lawn Elementary School of Cranston, Rhode Island with the name Bruce Heezen. The runner up was St. Martin’s Lutheran School of Annapolis, Maryland. More information on the contest and the winner can be found at <http://www.oceanographer.navy.mil /winner.html>.
Office of Naval Research (ONR) - Pat Dennis provided the report for ONR. Pat reported that ONR has budgeted $5.5M facilities money for ship time support of oceanographic research. This money provides 80% of the funding while 20% comes from the science programs. This year KNORR was involved in a very successful operation with the Navy/Marine Corps when it supported a mine countermeasures operation off of Newfoundland. This was the first time Navy 6.3 funding was used by ONR for a UNOLS ship. It was suggested that an information package on UNOLS be developed. The package could be provided to groups like the Navy’s 6.3 programs to describe the resources and capabilities of the UNOLS fleet.
Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) - The CORE report was provided by Dan Schwartz. A copy of the CORE viewgraphs is included as Appendix VI. CORE has 51 members 35 of which are also members of UNOLS. CORE institutions receive approximately $780M in Federal Support. CORE Projects include an Alumni Survey, Education inventory, Ocean science workshop/media cruises aboard SEWARD JOHNSON and CAPE HATTERAS, an Ocean Science Educators Retreat, Community College integration - MATE Program, CORE/NRL Postdoctoral Fellowship Program and Distinguished Visiting Scientists Program. CORE is actively involved in the National Ocean Science Bowl and the contractor for the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP) Office.
NOPP received $20.5M in funding for 1997 with $7.5M going to support NAVO surveys on UNOLS ships. In 1998, $24.5M was received and again $7.5M went to NAVO for UNOLS ship use. 72 proposals were submitted in 1998 for the NOPP funds, with 12 proposals selected for funding. CORE has been promoting the Oceans Act of 1998 which would convene a “Stratton Commission” type panel to review national ocean activities and recommend a coordinated national policy for the oceans. This bill is still working its way through Congress. The information on the FY99 appropriations visit the CORE webpage, http://core.cast.msstate.edu.
United States Coast Guard (USCG)- The Coast Guard was not represented at the meeting, however, Jon Berkson provided a written report which is included as Appendix VII. The report provides a update on HEALY. This ship is presently scheduled for delivery in early 1999 with a delay possible. A 30-meter coring system is being designed for this ship by Jim Broda of WHOI. The USCG is concerned that science funding has not been identified for HEALY operations.
POLAR SEA is presently deployed to the Arctic. Academic scientists are aboard as part of a “Science of Opportunity” cruise. POLAR STAR will be making an Arctic trip in July. Both ships will also support the SHEBA program. There is concern with an OMB instruction to require the Coast Guard to seek full reimbursement for operating costs of HEALY for non-DOD users. The Coast Guard has gone on record in opposition to the OMB position.
UNOLS ISSUES:
NSF Academic Research Fleet Review - Don Heinrichs provided an update of the NSF Fleet Review. The first meeting of the review was held at NSF in Arlington, VA on 8-10 June. The Review committee is chaired by Roland Schmitt, RPI retired, with committee members: Earl Doyle, Shell Development; Steve Ramberg, ONR; Hugo Bezdek, NOAA retired; Chris d’Elia, U. MD; Ellen Druffel, UC Irvine; Larry Mayer, U. New Brunswick; and George Weatherly, Florida State. The Committee Terms of Reference are included as Appendix VIII.
NSF and UNOLS provided presentations to the Committee for the three days of the first meeting to provide a background on Fleet operations. The second meeting will be held at SIO in La Jolla, CA on 2-3 September with a site visit of MELVILLE, SPROUL and ATLANTIS scheduled for 1 September. This meeting will provide projections of future science trends and cost comparative operations models. Tasking for the second meeting has been developed. A third meeting is tentatively scheduled for 10-12 November.
The committee’s report and recommendations are expected in late 1998/early 1999.
NSF is seeking input from the science ship use community. Ken Johnson and Tom Royer will write a letter encouraging input.
FOFCC Meeting Report - Ken Johnson gave a summary of the FOFCC meeting that was held on 30 June in Arlington, VA. The meeting was well attended. FOFCC will be updating their 1990 Report on Federal Oceanographic Fleet Requirements. The new plan will include other facilities with the possible inclusion of buoys and submersibles. Ken provided FOFCC a report for UNOLS showing viewgraphs of the UNOLS Operating days over the last 20 year, operating days for 1998 by ship and UNOLS projected 1998 operations support. These viewgraphs are included as Appendix IX.
National Oceans Conference - Both Ken Johnson and Jack Bash attended the National Oceans Conference in Monterey, CA on 11-12 June. The conference was considered useful in that it brought ocean issues to the highest levels of government and could result in funding increases for ocean research.
Science Mission Requirements (SMR) - Larry Atkinson, FIC Chair, led the discussion on the progress of developing SMRs for both an east coast research vessel and an Alaskan vessel. E-mail input has been received from all committee members working on the east coast SMRs. These will be consolidated with the original Class IV and III SMRs and prioritized. The East Coast SMRs should be ready in the fall. A conceptual design would be the next step after funding is secured.
SMR development is progressing on the replacement for ALPHA HELIX. An ice capability as well as a fisheries capability will be considered in the design of this vessel. Jim Meehan, NMFS and member of the SMR committee, commented on the fisheries capability of this vessel as compared to the NOAA FRV design. An update on the Alaskan SMRs will be provided at the fall meeting.
New Ship Construction - The replacement ship for BLUE FIN will be RV SAVANNAH. A contract for construction of this vessel is currently out for bid. The CALANUS replacement is still in the design phase. Florida Institute of Oceanography has a conceptual design for a replacement of SUNCOASTER. The new ship is planned to be 125 feet in length. More information on this ship is included in Appendix X.
AGOR 26 Construction Update - Pat Dennis reported that AGOR 26 is under contract to Lockheed Martin/Ingalls and is presently in the design phase. This ship will be a SWATH hull form and will be operated by the University of Hawaii. A spread sheet with comparison design criteria is included as Appendix XI. Phase I, the design phase should be completed by 29 October 1998 and is budgeted at $1M. Phase II, the construction phase is budgeted at $36M. Outfitting and testing will be included in the remaining budget.
A design review meeting is planed for 17 August. The Council voiced concern that UNOLS has not been kept abreast of the construction project nor have they been given the opportunity to provide input. Pat reported that at this time it appears that the design capabilities meet the Science Mission Requirements recommended by UNOLS. A “virtual design” website has been established by Lockheed/Martin. It was suggested that UNOLS be given access to the site so that they can keep abreast of progress on the construction.
FIC will be invited to review the AGOR-26 design progress at a 28 or 29 July meeting at the Lockheed/Martin facility in Sunnyvale, CA.
Airships and Aerostats - Jim Hain (Associated Scientists at Woods Hole, Inc.) made a presentation on airships and aerostats. A report by Jim titled Airships for Marine Mammal Research: Evaluation and Recommendations is included as Appendix XII. Ninety Five percent of the current activities of airships are involved in the corporate market. Four percent are used for surveillance and less than one percent are used for research. Lighter than air platforms are well suited for research because of their slow flight, station keeping and stable platform. They provide an effective platform for photo and video data acquisition, remote sensing and lowering instruments. These facilities are particularly suitable for large mammal studies in the sea, ocean atmospheric studies, plume studies and flying instrument test beds. Most platforms use for science to date have been provided by commercial companies pro bono.
Jim is interested in seeking other interested investigators that might have a scientific need for lighter than air platforms. The Council agreed to provide outreach support to the community for solicitation of interest in lighter than air platforms. It was suggested that Jim submit an article for the UNOLS Newsletter. Jim was asked to keep UNOLS abreast of his progress.
2 July 1998
RVOC Safety Video - Steve Rabalais reported that production of the RVOC Safety Video has been completed. It will be ready for distribution over the summer.
Ship Scheduling Process - Don Moller provided background on the scheduling process and how it is evolving. In the past, the ship schedules consisted primarily of cruises with researchers from their own respective institution. This was a simplified scheduling process but not always the most cost effective way to do business. Now the user base has become more broad. More agencies are involved and the panel funding decisions are earlier. Communications have improved with the use of the Web. Also in the past, there was less equipment that was shared by the fleet and therefore less coordination was needed. The changing conditions have required more central coordination. Electronic ship time requests with instant distribution has been initiated. Electronic posting of these requests make them more accessible to schedulers. Schedules are updated and electronically posted more frequently. Efficiencies in cruise tracks are scrutinized. Two annual scheduling meetings followed by two schedule review meetings have given way to one schedule review meeting in June and a general scheduling meeting followed by a review meeting in September. Some scheduling problems remain. Late changes in schedules are traumatic for the science parties. There is a perception that scientists are disconnected from the process; that schedules are driven by the agencies and not the schedulers and the process is becoming more frustrating.
Don proposes changes in the scheduling process. The June meeting should be delayed until early July and be a full ship scheduling meeting followed by a review meeting. Schedulers with local schedules that do not require coordination need not attend. The later date will allow for more information to be available concerning funding decisions. It would also provide NSF program managers with additional time for making funding announcements. Schedulers should not be required to develop full schedules or cruise tracks until most funding decisions are known. In place of a schedule the schedulers should post a list of proposed cruises in the approximate order of anticipated timing. Schedules would be developed at or immediately following the July meetings. The September ship scheduling meeting would not take place and only a schedule review meeting would held at that time.
On a related topic, the Council discussed the interchangability of ships. Scientists often become very frustrated in instances when they are moved from one ship to another during the scheduling process or when they do not get scheduled on the ship that they requested. There is a perception among scientists that ships are not interchangeable. It was suggested that additional training is needed for ship support groups to improve interchangability of ships. One way to help remedy this problem would be to internally swap technicians among UNOLS ships so that they can obtain a broader knowledge and experience. It was also commented that more definition of the cruise plan is needed after the project is funded. This would better enable the ship operator to technically support the cruise. The UNOLS new ship time request two-part form will actually address this exact issue. Lastly, it was recommended that the community, particularly new PIs need educating on the ship scheduling process. The NSF general proposal guidelines should reference the UNOLS webpage.
Two action items resulted from the discussions on ship scheduling procedures and interchangability of ships:
1. Don Moller was asked to prepare his proposed revision to the ship scheduling and circulate them for further comment.
2. A "white paper" should be written on "How ships are scheduled - a guide for novices." The paper would be posted on the UNOLS website.
UNOLS Annual Meeting - The Council made suggestions for potential keynote speakers an presentations for the Annual Meeting.
UNOLS Town Meeting, Customer Satisfaction Survey & Long Range UNOLS Issues/Public Outreach - Because all three agenda items addressed a similar topic they were discussed together. Ken provided a brief update on the 12 February Town Meeting the AGU/OSLO Conference in San Diego. The meeting was well advertised but not well attended. It was designed to be both informational and to allow the community to express their concerns with UNOLS. The low attendance could be construed as general satisfaction or at least a lack of strong dissatisfaction. Those that did attend took part in a friendly open discussion about the UNOLS activities. The Council encouraged continued efforts to reach the community. These should include: periodic customer satisfaction surveys (about every two to three years); advertise that the Council meetings are open and the community is encouraged to attend; a round table discussion with program managers at the Annual Meeting; the NSF inspection process should review ship assessment reports and continue a booth at the fall AGU meeting. It was recommended that UNOLS have a poster at the Fall AGU. It was further suggested that an agenda item for the next Council meeting should be post cruise assessment follow-up procedures.
Don Heinrichs reported that as part of the Academic Fleet Review, a customer satisfaction survey will be conducted. The Council agreed to postpone the development of a UNOLS survey until after the results of NSF’s survey are available. Don Heinrichs invited the Council to provide suggestions for questions for the customer survey.
Antarctic Support Association (ASA) Logistic Support - The Council briefly discussed ASA’s possible option for a U.S. oceanographic research facility to provide the functions of managing, planning, staffing and maintaining logistics support of PALMER and GOULD. No decisions or conclusions were reached.
Small Boats Designated as RVs - The Council briefly discussed the recent correspondence in the community about whether or not small boats fell within the Research Vessel Act and if their operators required passenger licenses. It was suggested that this issue should be passed on to George Ireland for advise.
UNOLS Office Transfer - Jack Bash provided the Council with a draft letter and schedule for the search for a UNOLS Office host and executive secretary replacement. The Council concurred with the letter and schedule.
UNOLS Charter Review - Clare Reimers led the discussion on the proposed changes to the UNOLS Charter. Changes are proposed for the basic Charter and three of the annexes. The primary thrust of the Charter changes are to allow for a more balanced representation between non-operator and operator members and to also address the issue of membership by consortia. The revised Charter would allow non-operator members an opportunity to hold chair positions on the Council and its committees. The annex changes followed this theme for the FIC annex and were general updates for the Ship Scheduling annex and National Facilities annex.
There was discussion by the Council on the issue of consortia. The proposed revised charter states that membership shall be by individual institution or by consortium. If a consortium is a UNOLS member, no constituent institution of that consortium may be a member.
It was decided that a separate vote would be taken for the consortium member issue at the Annual meeting so that the more routine changes could still be made if this issue were defeated.
UNOLS Council Membership - Dennis Hansell, Chair of the nominating committee reviewed the 1998 Council nomination process, see Appendix XIII. In February/March 1998 the committee was formed and includes Dennis, Clare Reimers and Peter Lonsdale. A call for nominations was announced in April/May. The announcements were sent out via the UNOLS newsletter, EOS, and letters to the UNOLS representatives and Dean/Directors of member institutions.
Dennis presented a draft slate for the Chair, Vice Chair and Council members. It was noted that there were no candidates for Council Chair and that Tom Royer was running unopposed as Vice Chair. A nomination was made to nominate Bob Knox as Chair. The final slate will be advertised at least thirty days before the Annual Meeting.
The Council recommended that the nominating process conducted this year should be the model for future years.
CORE/UNOLS MOA - A discussion was held on the current CORE/UNOLS MOA. As written it is very broad and probably needs to be more specific. The Council recommended that the Chair and Executive Secretary work with CORE on possible revisions and proposed that the new MOA include a provision that required the two organizations to have a working meeting at least twice a year to coordinate activities.
SEACLIFF and ATV Retirement Plans - Pat Dennis provided the Council with the latest information on SEACLIFF and ATV. SEACLIFF has been transferred to ONR and will soon be sent to WHOI. An engineering study is proposed to the agencies to determine how the vehicle or its parts can best be used. The decision on ATV still remains pending. Pat also informed the Council that TURTLE has been retired and will be transferred to either Mystic Museum or Hawaii.
Ship Scheduling Improvements - Jack Bash reported that improvements to the ship scheduling process should be up and running in a few of weeks.
AGOR Z-drive Thruster Status - Bob Knox informed the Council on the status of the AGOR Z-drive thrusters. Glosten has completed a study on the cause of the failures and has provided a report. Recommendations from that report are included as Appendix XIV. Two gears have been purchased for KNORR. The starboard gear has been replaced but not the port. Bearings and seals were replaced on both sets of gears. ONR has funded the purchase of two new gears for MELVILLE. Both will be installed at next dry-docking. It was recommended that one spare port upper gear and one spare starboard upper gear be purchased as spares for AGOR 23-25. ONR will fund this purchase. A complete lower unit spare exist.
AGOR 25 Test and Trials Schedule - Dick Pittenger reported on the test and trials schedule for ATLANTIS. The ship held its Post Shakedown Availability (PSA) in January and February of this year after completing six successful months of operations. The ship has been operating since the PSA. SCN money ran out in May. The tests and ship operations have gone very well. Appendix XV provides a detailed schedule.
Applications for UNOLS Membership: An application for UNOLS membership from the University of Minnesota, Duluth was received. The University of Minnesota, Duluth recently acquired a vessel from the Department Of Commerce buy-back program. It has been outfitted for oceanography (with some NSF money) and is presently operating in the Great Lakes. Scientists have indicated an interest in using the ship. Although U. of Minn. has applied to become a member of UNOLS they have not applied for BLUE HERRING to be a UNOLS vessel but will be a non-operating member. The Council approved the application and moved to forward it for vote at the Annual Meeting.
The Council recommended that the two membership requests from consortia, New Jersey Marine Science Consortium and Southern California Marine Institute, be provisionally advanced to the Annual Meeting for vote conditionally based on the pending charter change.
UNOLS Brochure - Vicky Cullen of Woods Hole has been funded to publish an updated UNOLS brochure. It should be ready in about six months.
Miscellaneous Discussions - It was suggested that agency reports be heard at the Annual Meeting and not given at the September Council meeting. Dick Pittenger extended an invitation for the Council to hold their next summer meeting at Woods Hole.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 pm.