DRAFT
UNOLS COUNCIL MEETING
Via Teleconference and Web Conference
Thurs. July 15 & Fri. July 16, 2004
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm EDT
The
UNOLS Council held their summer meeting on July 15 and 16, 2004. This meeting was the first of its kind with
attendees participating via phone and web conferencing. To accommodate this format, there were no formal
presentations and instead items requiring Council attention were discussed.
Some of the major discussion topics included:
-
Fleet renewal implementation
-
Regional Class acquisition process and UNOLS representation
on the IPT
-
The FOFC update of their Long-Range Fleet Renewal
Plan
-
Revised vessel retirement dates and SLEP estimates.
-
UNOLS Charter revisions and Guidelines for becoming
a UNOLS vessel
-
Annual Meeting preparations
-
Conflicts of interest on UNOLS Committees
-
UNOLS Priorities for 2004/2005
A
variety of written reports and material were provided to the Council in advance
of the meeting. These included Committee
reports, Ocean Class Phase II study status, Global Class mid-life refit planning,
EWING replacement plans, CAPE HENLOPEN Replacement Vessel status, Regional
Class SMR prioritization recommendations, and UNOLS cable performance requirements.
Key
issues, concerns, and findings identified during the meeting discussions included
the following:
·
Ocean Class vessel projected day rates are close
to those of the existing Global Class ships.
If operating costs for the new ships are higher and budgets do not
increase, fewer ships can be supported and there will be fewer days available
for science. If the UNOLS community
is concerned about the more expensive ships, these concerns need to be voiced
now.
·
The FOFC update
of the Fleet Renewal plan will be based on the agency view of budget realities.
It will likely be more conservative than the current plan.
·
UNOLS/FIC will
revise and publish our own Fleet Renewal or Fleet Improvement Plan (FIP).
It would be the basis for consistent recommendations by UNOLS to agencies
and others. The FIP would articulate the real facility
requirements needed to support expected science demand. The UNOLS FIP would
project facility needs based on expected science needs as opposed to budget
projections. An increased emphasis on science justification for facilities
capabilities is required.
·
The Council
reached consensus on a variety of proposed Charter changes. They recommended that the Council make UNOLS
vessel/National Facility designations. A
process for appealing Council designation decisions should be clearly defined.
· The FIC and UNOLS Office have been working to update the projected vessel retirement dates. Some preliminary findings indicate that most of the ships (>40m) can have their lifetimes extended 5-10 years for an estimated cost of $1-5M for each vessel, but the Council has some important concerns regarding life extensions. The Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) estimates focus on maintaining the ship in an operational condition without enhancing the scientific capabilities of the platform. The existing Intermediate Class vessels do not meet most of the Ocean Class SMRs nor do they meet several of the Regional Class SMRs.