January 24, 2003 

Tentative Agenda

UNOLS Fleet Improvement Committee Meeting
Tuesday and Wednesday, January 28-29, 2003

National Science Foundation - Room 380
Arlington, VA

Please revisit this website for any agenda revisions.

Mock-up Field Trip: Monday afternoon, January 27^th - A field trip to the CAPE HENLOPEN Replacement Vessel Mock-up facility is being arranged. Please contact the UNOLS Office if you plan to attend and indicate the time you would be available in the afternoon of 1/27 for the trip.

Tuesday, January 28, 2003 - 8:30 am - 5:00 pm

0830 Welcome and Introduction – Larry Atkinson, FIC Chair, will open the meeting and recap FIC activities since the last meeting.

Accept Minutes – Accept the minutes from the September 25, 2002 FIC Meeting.

0845 Agency Reports and Fleet Capitalization

· Appropriations and Funding for Fleet Renewal – Agency Status

· Navy’s Report to Congress

· NSF Capitalization Plans (Details of the RFP for Regional Class Conceptual Designs will discussed later in the meeting)

0930 Studies Related to Fleet Renewal:

· Navy’s Scalable, Common Hull Study – Dan Roland (JJMA, Inc) will report on any additional recommendations from the Navy’s Common Hull Study that were not already reported at the September FIC meeting. This will include their findings regarding the TAGS 51 class vessels.

1000 Break

1015 Studies Related to Fleet Renewal (continued)

· RFP for Regional Class Conceptual Design – Provide input and discuss with NSF and JJMA the call for proposals being drafted for Regional Class Conceptual Design.

· Bay Marine Inc. Study - Status report on the Bay Marine Inc. study to look at the cost difference between constructing a vessel that is <500GT with one that would be >500GT and require inspection. Life cycle cost differences will also be addressed by the study.

1130 Finalize Science Mission Requirements (SMRs) – The latest draft of the SMRs, as well as the community comments that have been received, will be provided to the FIC and the steering committees in advance of the meeting. These documents should be thoroughly reviewed to prepare for the following discussion items.

· Ocean Class – Review any SMR item that received community input and make any necessary revisions.

1200 Lunch Break

1300 Finalize Science Mission Requirements (SMRs) (continued)

· Ocean Class (continued)

· Regional Class – Review any SMR item that received community input and make any necessary revisions. Consider findings, if available from the Bay Marine, Inc study.

1430 Break

1445 Finalize Science Mission Requirements (SMRs) (continued)

· Finalize SMRs – Address any issues that require additional attention. Discuss process for SMR finalization and forwarding to the UNOLS Council for endorsement.

1530 Fleet Renewal Implementation – Other Items

· Conceptual Design Studies:

- Ocean Class Conceptual Design Process – Discuss with Navy and provide input regarding the next steps for Ocean Class design and acquisition

- Regional Class Conceptual Design – The process appears to be on track.

· Operator Selection Process – general discussion.

· Ship Construction Management – general discussion.

· Steering Committee – review membership

· Review the timelines for the Ocean and Regional Class Vessels – where do we stand?

1630 Ocean Observatory Facility Requirements - Efforts are underway to form a UNOLS working group to address the ship and submergence facility needs for ocean observatories. The working group task statement and status of this effort will be reviewed for discussion.

1700 Adjourn Day 1

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Day 2: Wednesday, January 29, 2003

0830 FOFC Long Range Fleet Plan – Are there plans to update the FOFC long-range fleet plan to reflect changing timelines and new facility needs that are predicted from the Ocean observatory initiatives and other major National programs?

• North American Carbon Program
• Others?

0900 KILO MOANA Debriefs

· The debrief responses for 2002 cruises will be reviewed and discussed.

• Debrief Questionnaire – should there be any changes to the questionnaire
• Publications – discuss ways to publicize KILO MOANA’s initial science operations.
• Review the KILO MOANA 2003 cruise schedule and identify volunteers for each debrief.

1000 Break

1015 Fleet Renewal – Design and Construction Efforts in Progress:

• Alaska Regional Research Vessel - Status of design effort and plans for February meeting.
• CAPE HENLOPEN Replacement – Status report on the design effort and plans for construction.
• CAPE HATTERAS Midlife Refit – Status report.
• PELICAN Midlife Refit – Status report
• EWING Mid-Life Refit Plans - Review recommendations from the fall meeting.

1100 Revisit any items from Day 1 that require additional attention

1130 FIC Membership – In October 2003 Larry’s final term as FIC chair ends. Suggestions for replacement will be discussed.

1150 Wrap-Up – Summarize action items

1200 Adjourn