NEWSLETTER

Vol. 23, No. 2                                                                                                                                                     August 1998 

Editor’s Note

The 1998 RVOC meeting is scheduled for 4-6 November and will be sponsored by the University of Hawaii at the Hawaiian Regent Hotel on the Diamond head end of Waikiki.  Following is a repeat of the hotel information from Bill Coste’s e-mails for those of us who have a hard time organizing our lives.  (Now, what was the deadline for making hotel reservations?)  Reservations may be made at the Hawaiian Regent Hotel by calling toll free (800) 367-5370 from the U.S. & Canada.  Their fax number is (808) 921-5255, email:  (hwnrgnt@aloha.net), or snail mail:  2552 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815-3699.  Their website is www.hawaiianregent.com.  When calling, tell them you will be attending the RVOC meeting and would like the "RVOC Meeting" room rate.  The rates are single/double @$90.00.  All room rates are subject to Hawaii State tax of 4.16% plus hotel room tax of 6.00%.  No charge for children under 18 years of age when occupying  a room with full paying adult utilizing existing bedding. Reservations must be made no later than October 4, 1998.  Reservations received after this date will be subject to room availability.  A one night's deposit ($99.14) payable by U.S. check/money order or (major) credit card must accompany the reservation request to guarantee the room.  Deposits will be refunded if cancellation notice is received 72 hours prior to arrival date.  Parking is available @$9/per day.  Room rates are available from three days before until three days after the meeting.

This year the spouses are encouraged to attend the coffee and welcoming remarks on the 4th and then they can break out to discuss their programs/options.

University of Hawaii will host a welcoming cocktail party Wednesday evening at the Waikiki Aquarium, within walking distance of the hotel.  Bill Coste is looking into a dinner cruise Thursday evening on board NAVATEK. It is a SWATH vessel and would be an appropriate platform for that occasion.

Steve Rabalais
 
 
 

From the Chair
 
First, I would like to take this opportunity to say "Welcome Aboard" to Dan Schwartz, the new Operations Manager at the University of Washington.  Dan has been around academic research vessels for the last 20(?) years and has attended RVOC Meetings in a variety of roles, having worked at the University of Miami/RSMAS, Harbor Branch Oceanographic  Institution and CORE.

The new RVOC Safety Video, produced by Jamestown Marine under the direction of the RVOC Safety Committee, should be distributed  shortly.  It is undergoing a final review by Committee members before being distributed.  All reports indicate that a fine job has been done by all involved.

Please take the time to review the proposed agenda and provide me with any input you might have.  As you can see we have several Special Reports.  I would like to request that those persons making Special Reports confine their presentations to 10-12 minutes.  We will require about ~ five hours for the two seminars being presented; therefore, any presentations that are not completed will be scheduled as time permits for the second and third days.

I look forward to seeing all of you at the RVOC Meeting on 4-6 November in Honolulu, HI.

Best Regards
Paul Ljunggren
 

New Equipment
by: Steve Rabalais
 

While preparing for this newsletter I ran across an e-mail from Fred Jones suggesting that we include a section describing our experiences with new equipment.  Because I am one of the people who can not remember where they put the hotel information for the upcoming RVOC meeting, I did not solicit information for this section from our constituency in time for this issue.  I think Fred has a good idea and I will do my best to remember in time for the next newsletter.  In the meantime, we will have to make do with a few new toys on PELICAN:
AirSep Closed Crankcase Breathing and Air Filtration System for Diesel Engines Available from:
 
 Walker Engineering Enterprises
  8321 DeCelis Place
  North Hills, CA 91343
  Phone: (818) 895-7788

System installed on (2) Caterpillar 3412 mains and (2) Caterpillar 3306 Gen Sets late in 1997.  System performing very well, has reduced blow by and crankcase exhaust significantly.  Cost for all four engines is approximately $4,000. Disadvantages:  filter must be replaced every 150 hrs., price/filter approximately $130.  Other system considered:  The Condenser from Crankcase Management Systems, Inc., Phone (303) 665-6455.  Advantage:  No filters to replace.  Disadvantage:  separated oil does not return to base.

SAFE Boat 17’ open dive/rescue boat

  Northwind Marine
  7814 8th Avenue South
  Seattle, WA 98108
  Phone: (206) 767 4497

A 17’ Safe boat was purchased on a NSF Shipboard Scientific Support Equipment grant in July.  The boat features a solid polyethylene collar that will not deflate like RIBs and an all aluminum, self bailing hull that is fully functional even without the collar.  A Honda 50 hp, 4 cycle engine with a Handler (prop schroud) was installed on the boat.  The boat is very well made and exceptionally roomy.  It was used as a dive support vessel on a 12 day NSF cruise that began the day it was delivered and the boat crew and scientific party were very pleased.  The Honda 50 hp is a real work of art.  The verdict is out on the Handler.  The hub spun early in the trip and we had to use the spare prop.

SeaNet Awards Systems

Ellen Kappel, Joint Oceanographic Institutions (ekappel@brook.edu/301-229-2709) or Susan Kubany, Omnet, Inc. (s.kubany@omnet.com/ 540-885-5800).

The SeaNettm partners* are pleased to announce the first installations of SeaNettm systems for the U.S. academic research fleet.  Five UNOLS vessels, Melville, Seward Johnson, Atlantis, Ewing  and Pelican, are scheduled for system installation some time this fall.  It is anticipated that the SeaNettm systems, which provide high- and low-speed Internet connectivity for remote sites, will be available to other academic institutions, as well as commercially, in 1999.

Specialized PC web-based software being developed by SeaNettm will provide the following capabilities:

· Management of INMARSAT B, cellular, and other wireless devices, such as AMSC/MSAT, providing connectivity to the Internet;
· Accounting software that informs both users and operators of the costs incurred for running the link(s);
· A batch file transfer application which allows users/operators to easily schedule transmission of files to and from shore (including batch e-mail file delivery);
· A Web Mirror application which enables one-way web-mirroring of web sites between ship and shore;
· SeaNet DataPipetm capabilities to easily configure data sources and sinks so that data-generating applications can easily transfer data between shipboard applications and shore and the Internet in batch mode, and;
· A software development environment for the integration of future shipboard data communications interfaces and applications.

Users will also be able to have interactive IP connectivity from the ship to the Internet, if necessary.

A significant SeaNettm development is that institutions and commercial users will be able to access updated usage/cost information directly via the Internet.  Software running on the shipboard SeaNet PC will maintain a running estimate of usage and cost incurred per authorized user account.  In the future SeaNettm's plans to be able to bill for communications usage down to the individual user level when appropriate.  The new Network Operations Center at Omnet, Inc. will provide full time (7 day by 24 hour) monitoring of the performance of the shipboard PCs and will be the first level point of contact for remote sites.  A SeaNettm engineer will be on call to provide backup support for resolving technical and operational problems.  SeaNettm is currently being funded by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program of the Office of Naval Research.

*SeaNet partners
 Joint Oceanographic Institutions (Dr. Ellen Kappel, project manager):  Liaison/coordination with Federal agencies and scientific community, and SeaNet Review Panel.
 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Mr. Andrew Maffei and Mr. Steve Lerner):  Project coordination; Shipboard Communications Node (SCN) software development.
 Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (Mr. Dale Chayes and Mr. Richard Perry):  INMARSAT-B procurement; Shipboard systems installation and testing.
 Omnet Inc (Mr. Robert Heinmiller and Ms. Susan Kubany):  SeaNet operations center; Billing; Value-added services.
 Naval Postgraduate School (Mr. Rex Buddenberg):  Shipboard implementation laboratory; Emerging technology planning; NRaD and Navy liaison.
 

EWING Prepares for Seismic Surveys
By Paul Ljunggren

I thought I would briefly review some of the experiences we at Lamont-Doherty had as part of the commercial charter of R/V MAURICE EWING.  EWING was delivered to the charterer on 15 May in Norfolk, VA and departed Halifax, Nova Scotia on 23 May to begin the geophysical survey.  To arrive at this point was quite a process.  While there were several inspections of the vessel by the potential charterer in late 1997 early 1998, the effort to negotiate a charter, obtain NSF approval, and meet the safety and training requirements actually began in mid-March 1998.

There were two series of hurdles to be cleared.  The first occurred prior to delivery of the ship.  This involved preparation of the charter, negotiation of the charter, and obtaining NSF approval.

- As I came to learn, preparation of a ship's charter for commercial work is a very specialized body of maritime law.  After consulting with Dennis Nixon on this, we sought out an Admiralty Attorney to assist us. This was the key to preparation of the charter and also confidence of our General Counsel's Office and the Office of Contracts and Grants.

- Of the three steps necessary to put this charter in place, the negotiation of the charter and its clauses was probably the most straight forward and requires no specific comment.  Copies of the draft charter and subsequent revisions were submitted to NSF for review and comment.

- NSF approval was key to this entire effort and was received prior to making delivery of the vessel.  Key points relating to approval of the charter included identification of the benefits to be derived by NSF and LDEO; confirmation that the rate we were offering to charter the vessel was not below the industry norm; and proof of hull insurance.

In addition to these administrative hurdles we had to address safety and training related requirements.  These requirements came from various sources including the charterer which has standards established by the International Association of Geophysical Contractors, the charter’s client, and the Canadian government.

These requirements included:

- All personnel (crew and science party) had to complete Advanced Fire Fighting Training, Basic First Aid and CPR, and Open Water Survival.

- Personnel responsible for operating the ship's rescue boat had to complete an approved Fast Rescue boat Course.

- All personnel had to complete on board eight hours of safety training in such areas as Lock-out/Tag-out, Proper Lifting Techniques, Confined Space Entry, Personal Protective Equipment, Blood Borne Pathogens, etc.

- Because we were working in the offshore geophysical field, there was a separate permitting process which required inspection and/or approval by Canadian-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, Canadian Coast Guard and Canadian Human Resource Board.

· The Canadian Offshore Petroleum Board review of the vessel included review of crew training, review of onboard Contingency/Emergency Plans, and an audit procedure for Health, Safety, and Environmental operating procedures.
 
· The Canadian Coast Guard conducted a safety inspection of the ship.
 
· The Canadian Human Resource Board sought to place qualified Canadian personnel on board the vessel as crew members.  The value of accurate and up to date job descriptions cannot be understated since crew member job descriptions were compared with crew member resumes.  (A resume for each of our crew and science personnel had been prepared and submitted.)  The operational skills of personnel and their positions as they related to the safety of the vessel were the basis  for identifying positions they were likely to have Canadians fill.  The process was a negotiated experience.  We are currently sailing with Canadians on board; however, we did not have to displace any of our regular crew.
 
R/V MAURICE EWING is currently working off Nova Scotia.
 
 

Hard copies of notes and clippings may be requested from the UNOLS Office.

RVOC

I.  RVOC ‘98 Agenda

Regulatory

I.  Safety in Polar Regions
II.  200 Ton Licenses
III.  Diesel Emissions
IV.  Canadian GMDSS
V.  GMDSS Inspections
VI.  Countdown to GMDSS

Insurance

I.  ORV Liability Issues

New Equipment

I.  Inmarsat D+
II.  EPIRB/GPS
III.  Vessel and Fleet  Computerization

Management

I.  Tips for Training Program
II.  GMDSS Training

Misc.

I.  Glomar Explorer
II.  Emergency Response Programs
III.  Oil Analysis
IV.  Helicopter Evacuations
V.  Winch Technology
VI.  European ORVs
VII.  Inmarsat Competition
VIII.  Y2K @ IMO

 
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