Meeting Minutes

UNOLS FLEET IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING

The National Science Foundation

Wednesday PM, October 14, 2009 (following the Annual Meeting) – Stafford II - Room 555
Thursday 8:30 am, October 15, 2009 – NSF Stafford I - Room 920

Arlington, VA 22230

 

Meeting Presentations

I Agenda
II Meeting Participants
III FIC Action Items
IV Regional Class Research Vessel Update
V Alaska Region Research Vessel Update
VI Ocean Class Science Mission Requirements (SMRs) Comparison Table
VII Kilo Moana Load Handling System
VIII Ocean Observatory Initiative Update
IX FIC Membership
X Weatherbird II update
XI Draft Debrief Questions for R/V Hugh Sharp
XII SMR Project Update
XIII Fleet Improvment Plan Status
XIV FIC Roadmap for the Future

 

·         Accept the minutes of the March 2009 FIC Meeting

·         Review FIC Action/Task List from the March meeting

 

1345    Opportunity for Agency Comments

 

1400    Fleet Acquisition Efforts (full presentations on vessel acquisition efforts are included on the Annual Meeting agenda on October 13-14).  Any issues that require FIC attention should be reported.

·         ARRV – Update and comparison of the ARRV specification with the UNOLS Ocean Class SMRs - Marc Willis

·         Regional Class – NSF

·         Ocean Class – Update and comparison of the Ocean Class specifications with the UNOLS Ocean Class SMRs – Mike Prince / Chris MacDonald

·         Science Sea Trials – What are the plans for science sea trials for the new vessels?  Will there be FIC/community involvement?

 

1445    Break

 

1500   Load Handling Systems:

·         Kilo Moana Update - Status report on the acquisition of the new Load Handling System for Kilo Moana. Lessons learned. (Sandy Shor)

·         Acquisition status of handling system for ARRV - Lessons learned. (Marc Willis)

 

1520    WHOI Long-Coring System: Dave Hebert

·         User Feedback from Knorr cruise (Mar 25 – Apr 6, 2009)

·         Schedule of future long core operations

·         Discuss future user debrief process

 

1540    Hugh R. Sharp User Debriefs: Dave Hebert

·         Review draft set of standard user debrief questions that will evaluate the new technologies of the ship

·         Review the Sharp schedule for candidate cruises

 

1600    Ocean Observatory Projections -Status report on implementation plans (OOI Office – Susan Banahan and Tim Cowles)

 

1620    FIC Membership Changes and Nominations in 2009 – Dave Hebert

 

1640    Other business:

·         Weatherbird II Status – Al Hine

 

1700    Adjourn Day 1 FIC Meeting

 

 

Day 2:  Thursday, October 15, 2009 – NSF Stafford I - Room 920

0800    Coffee and Pastries

 

0830    Call Day-2 of the FIC Meeting to Order:  Dave Hebert, FIC Chair.

 

0840    SMR Update and Input to Ocean Class Research Vessel RFP Development: (Dave Hebert)

·         Review project tasking <http://www.unols.org/committees/fic/smr/update08/index.html>

·         Status report and next steps

 

0910    Fleet Improvement Plan (FIP): (Dave Hebert)

·         Follow up on FIP recommendations

·         Appendix on Ocean Acoustics

 

0930    FIC Roadmap for the Future – What future activities should FIC take on?  This will be a brainstorming session.  Some areas to consider:

·         Projected service life end dates:

o        Agency representatives are evaluating ship conditions during inspections.

o        Some vessels are at or approaching their projected end of service life

·         OOI facility projections (geographic regions, vessel classes, ship days)

·         The composition of the Fleet is changing – ships are being removed from service, new ships are planned.

·         Recommendations from the OSB study on the Evolution of the Research Fleet

·         Large shared-use facilities with designated support platforms (ex. Long Core Facility)

·         Greening the Fleet

·         No new vessel acquisitions are planned during the period 2015-2020 – Who and how do we fund new Global Class vessels

·         Are there any tasks that the Agency Representatives would like the FIC to take on?

·         Are there any Council tasks for FIC?

 

A mid morning break is planned for 1030.

 

1130    Opportunity for Additional Reports

 

1150    Review FIC Action Items and Assignments (Dave Hebert)

 

1200    Meeting Adjourns