Meeting Minutes
Executive Summary:
The UNOLS Council met at the
Council Action Items:
New actions:
1.
Annual Meeting Keynote Presenter – Contact Bob Gagosian, President of
Ocean Leadership. (Marcia McNutt)
2.
UNOLS Dues:
·
Increase dues as
follows: $150 operator, $50 non
operator. (Kate Sawyers)
·
Follow-up with
institutions that are delinquent in payment. (Marcia McNutt)
3.
Request for Proposals to Host the UNOLS Office – Letters of Intent are
due on March 5th.
·
Request proposals in
the Fastlane form and provide additional information about the budget
areas. Proposals are due on May 16th.
(Mike Prince)
4.
Harassment at Sea – Draft a proposal for RVOC to consider
regarding online training provided through UNOLS (Marcia McNutt & Mike
Prince)
5.
Radio Frequency Spectrum Use:
6.
HiSeasNet Shadowing
Problem –
·
RVTEC should work with
the HiSeasNet group on solutions.
Operators should be polled to determine the demand for 24/7 connectivity
and bandwidth requirements. Based on the
poll, consider a proposal for a mobile HiSeasNet unit. (RVTEC)
·
SMRs should be revised
to address HiSeasNet antenna placement. (FIC)
7.
Transportation Workers Identification Credential
(TWIC)
·
All technicians should be required by their
operation/institution to get TWIC.
·
Recommend that all Chief Scientists normally
sailing out of secure facilities get TWIC.
·
Broadly distribute the recommendation to the community. (RVOC, RVTEC,
UNOLS Office)
8.
Annual meeting – schedule the meeting with the same format as last year. UNOLS Office will poll Council, FIC and
Agency reps for dates.
9.
Schedule June/July summer
phone meeting. (Office)
10. 2008 Council Slate – The Nominating
Committee will prepare a slate of candidates.
Continuing Actions:
11. Crew and Marine Technician
Retention and Hiring Issues – The RVTEC and RVOC will present proposed
solutions to the Council. Their efforts include carrying out a salary survey
(Hawkins, Martin, Zerr, and Lamerdin).
12. Ad hoc Committee on Data
Management Best Practices – The ad-hoc committee will carry out their charge in
accordance with their approved terms of reference.
13. Global Class Science Mission
Requirements – Update the Global SMRs using the new format (Regional/Ocean
Class template) and consider the community input that was received. (Mike
Prince)
14. RVOC Safety Standards – Complete the draft RVSS Update (Safety Committee
and Office).
15.
Code of Conduct for Marine Scientific Research
Vessels – ISOM adopted the code on a volunteer basis. Encourage Geraint West to send the Code to
the
16.
Continue Review of
PCAR - Mike Prince will provide materials to the PCAR committee and resume the
review process.
17. SCOAR Chair – Mike Prince will work with the Committee and Agency reps to
find a new SCOAR Chair.
Resolutions,
Appointments, and Motions:
·
The Council passed a resolution thanking Beth White for her service to
UNOLS and wishing her well in her future ventures.
·
American’s with
Disabilities Act (ADA) Guidelines for UNOLS Vessels – The Council approved the
ADA Guidelines.
·
The Council passed a
resolution thanking Dolly Dieter for her tireless efforts in support of the
Academic Fleet and UNOLS and wishing her well in her retirement.
·
The Council appointed Pete Zerr as acting RVOC Chair and directed him to
select a permanent Chair and if necessary vice chair.
·
Transportation Worker Identification Credential
(TWIC) – The Council passed the motion to accept the RVTEC/RVOC recommendations
that:
-
All Technicians should be required by their
operation/institution to get TWIC.
-
All Chief Scientists normally sailing out of
secure facilities should get TWIC, otherwise science mobilizations/logistics
may be jeopardized.
Appendices:
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I. |
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II. |
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III. |
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IV. |
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V. |
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VI. |
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VII. |
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VIII. |
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IX. |
International Cruise Information Database and Web-site - POGO |
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X. |
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XI. |
Committee Status Report on Best Practices for Data Management |
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XII. |
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XIII. |
FIC - Fleet Improvement Plan - Draft Findings and Recommendations |
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XIV. |
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XV. |
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XVI. |
RVTEC Report including Recommendations regarding HighSeasNet |
Day 1 – Thursday, February
7th
Call the Meeting: The
UNOLS Council met on February 7-8, 2008 at the University of South Florida
(USF) in
Dr. Hogarth, Interim Dean of the College of Marine Sciences at USF, welcomed the UNOLS Council and Fleet Improvement Committee to USF.
Accept Minutes - Peter Wiebe identified typos on pages 5 and 6 of the October 2007 Council Meeting minutes. The Council approved a motion to accept the minutes with the correction of the two typos (Peter Wiebe/Bob Collier).
UNOLS 2008 Fleet schedules, estimated operation costs, and 2009 ship
scheduling –Stan Winslow, Ship
Scheduling Committee (SSC) Chair, provided a report on the status of ship
scheduling. His slides are included as Appendix III.
Stan gave the evolution of the 2008 scheduling process. In the summer of 2007, the 2008 ship
schedules picture did not look good with a ship day total of 3125. ONR decided
that none of the Navy ships would be laid up in 2008 and all Global/Ocean
schedulers were told to develop 220 ship day schedules. All schedulers were
told to seek out additional sources of funding for research cruises.
By September 2007, the 2008 ship
schedules had improved. The schedulers trimmed their budgets. The funding agencies had obtained additional
funding and some outside sources for research funding had been found (Saudis, Germans, and mining). Seward Johnson was able to add about 150 days. The schedules continued to be refined
before finalizing in January 2008.
Overall, the approved 2008 schedules were a big improvement over the
summer 2007 versions.
Stan presented a slide showing fleet operating costs from 2002 to 2008. Operating costs are increasing dramatically and ship day rates are climbing faster than the government budgets that fund them.
Linda Goad commented that the scenario of finalizing the schedules in
January of the operating year will become the norm and to plan on it again next
year.
Ship time requests for 2009 currently total 2935 days. In 2009 two large ships will be needed in the
Western Pacific.
Agency Reports:
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - Bill O’Clock provided the NOAA report
(Appendix IV). He provided an update
on the FY08 budget. The FY08 enacted
appropriation is ~$3.3M (2.5%) below the President’s Budget for ship
operations. The funding shortfall will like result in a reduction in days,
not cancellation of cruises.
An update on NOAA ship acquisition was
given. Pictures of the vessels and
details of construction and conversion status are included in the slides. The Ferdinand R. Hassler is a SWATH vessel currently under
construction. The delivery date will
likely extend past the end of the contract delivery date of December 31, 2008. The ship will be home ported at the
University of New Hampshire. Two other
ships under construction are the Fisheries Vessels, Pisces (FSV 3) and Bell M.
Shimada (FSV 4). The Pisces (FSV3) predicted delivery date is
August 26, 2008. The Bell M. Shimada (FSV 4) contract
delivery date March 26, 2009, but may slip.
Shimada will likely be home ported in Seattle.
Pisces will initially be in
Gulf of Mexico, but once FSV5 is completed, Pisces
will go to Woods Hole. The Dyson and Bigelow (FSVs 1 & 2), continue to experience
technical problems. Both ships have had
generator problems.
The USNS Capable (T-AGOS Class)
was transferred from the Navy to NOAA in September 2004 and is being converted
to an ocean exploration ship, Okeanos
Explorer. The conversion was carried
out in phases. The shipyard work is
expected to be completed by March 31, 2008. An integration period follows
dedicated primarily to installation, acceptance testing, and integration of the
telepresence, VSAT systems, shipboard computer, and networking equipment. Ocean Explorations and Research’s (OER’s)
remotely-operated underwater vehicle (ROV) will be installed and integrated
with other ship systems. Following
system integration, the ship will conduct a series of shakedown cruises through
mid-summer 2008. For the remainder of
the FY2008 and into early 2009, the ship will be engaged in field trials in the
NOAA’s ship recapitalization plan was
discussed. The costs associated with the
plan are very high. Ship time demand for future missions is estimated to
greatly exceed future ship capacity. Ten
ships are scheduled to go out of service by 2024.
Bill reported on personnel changes. Beth White retired from NOAA at the end of
December. NOAA is searching for a
replacement and has five candidates. Ralph
Rogers has been transferred to the Foster as the Commanding
Officer. Barbara Moore is on detail to
the Department of State. Karen
Kohanowich has been assigned as the acting Director of NURP.
The Council passed a resolution thanking
Beth White for her service to UNOLS and wishing her well in her future
ventures.
Navy – Bob Winokur
gave the Navy report prepared by Bob Houtman.
Total Navy support for the UNOLS Fleet in 2008 is about $16M. The Navy scheduled work is now fully
funded. Any new requests will be
reviewed on a case by case basis.
The Navy NAVSEA program manager for the Ocean Class AGORs acquisition is Chris McDonald. He is currently working on the documentation for the acquisition program that should be approved through NAVSEA in the coming weeks. The acquisition funds are in the budget and Bob is optimistic that it will remain in the budget.
The Navy is building TAGS 66, a new survey vessel, as a follow on to the current TAGS vessels. $117M was authorized for the TAGS 66 construction and additional requests for funds will not be allowed. Halter Marine will build the vessel as a modified repeat of the previous TAGS vessels.
Discussion:
· Dave Checkley asked what the Navy's interest in oceanographic ships is beyond the two Ocean Class vessels. Bob Winokur – The Navy is kicking off a process called Oceanography 2025 to look at their needs including infrastructure and facilities. They hope to move this process along aggressively and to be done in the next 12 to 15 months.
·
Peter Wiebe mentioned the UNOLS Ocean Class hull
study that evaluated the X-Craft, SWATH and monohull. The eventual conceptual design featured modular
van space. He asked to what extent that
conceptual design would influence the planning for the Ocean Class
vessels. Bob Winokur - It is reasonable
to believe that the effort from the X-Craft study will influence the
performance specifics. Peter asked if
these ships would still be subject to being taken by the Navy for their
use. Bob Winokur - He doubts it.
National Science Foundation (NSF) – Dolly Dieter provided
the NSF report. There have been some NSF
personnel changes. Julie Morris is the
Division Director for Ocean Science and will be there for one more year. She could be extended for another year by
invitation. The Ocean Section Head interviews
have been completed and they are negotiating with the recommended candidate. An announcement of who that person is should
be made soon. Dolly Dieter has been the
acting Section Head for the Integrated Programs Section (IPS) for 15
months. Sixteen candidates have applied
for the position. Human Resources will
select four candidates by the end of February.
Dolly will retire from NSF by March 31st. Matt Hawkins begins work at NSF on February
19th and will cover new construction projects.
It has not been determined yet how Dolly’s other responsibilities will
be distributed (DESSC, Equipment, UNOLS, etc).
In total, there have been 25 new people hired at NSF, with 1.5 people for Geoscience in FY08. This same hiring level is expected in FY09.
The Major Research
Equipment (MRE) account does not include new funding for Alaska Region Research
Vessel (ARRV), Ocean Observatory Initiative (OOI) and NEON due to the
requirement to have final design reviews and risk assessed cost budgets. The projects will spend the year responding
to these requirements. The delays in the
projects will result in higher project costs due to inflation. NSF
will support the ARRV project out of the R&RN budget during 2008 while they
prepare for the final design review. It
is unclear how OOI will be supported this year, but funds are needed to keep
the program office and implementation offices running.
The Regional Class acquisition design effort encountered delays due to the bankruptcy of Nichols Brothers (a shipyard of one of the design/build teams). The new shipyard owner wants to continue the contract, but this is up to the bankruptcy courts. A decision should be available soon regarding whether or not to accept a design from the new shipyard owner. NSF would like ship designs from both teams. NSF would own the designs and could use them whether or not they go forward right away with ship construction. The Dakota Creek Inc design should be done this spring. The mid-size infrastructure budget is somewhat flat, and costs are going up. NSF wants to still build three Regional Class Research Vessels (RCRVs), but they may consider fewer than three depending upon budget levels. It is unlikely that NSF will send out a solicitation for the ship operator before 2009.
The Replacement Human Occupied
Vehicle (RHOV) design review is scheduled for 20-21 February at NSF. At that time they will decide whether or not
to go forward with the vehicle fabrication project. The contract for fabrication of the sphere
has been awarded. It the decision is
made to not proceed with vehicle fabrication, the new sphere could be considered
for use with
Break
Fleet Improvement,
Facility Design, Construction, and Conversion Efforts:
Summary of FIC Meeting and Fleet Improvement Plan – Dave Hebert reported on the status of the Fleet
Improvement Plan chapters. His slides
are included as Appendix V.
Most of the FIC meeting was spent reviewing the Fleet utilization
projections and developing the findings and recommendations. The preliminary findings and recommendations
will be presented to the Council later in the meeting.
R/V Marcus
Langseth –Jim Cochran reported on the R/V Langseth conversion project, shakedown and calibration cruises. His slides are included as Appendix
VII. The NSF certificate of ownership was
transferred to LDEO in November. The
sound source array trials went well. The
seismic array trials had mixed results. The
complexity of these cruises was extreme.
One of the biggest challenges facing LDEO is hiring and maintaining the
ship’s personnel. Three contractors were
hired to assist in the sea trials. Weather
impacted their cruises; however, they were able to get a lot accomplished
including data collection. Images of the
various operations are included in the slides.
The
2008 schedule includes the following cruises:
• Holbrook -1 & -2 (MCS & OBS)
• McGuire (OBS)
• Mutter (3D)
• Gulick (MCS & OBS)
• Toomey (OBS)
LDEO
hopes to carry out another short cruise to test the ship’s 3-D capability before
the Toomey cruise. In summary, they are confident
in the air-gun and 2-D operations, but the 3-D operations would benefit by
additional testing.
Marc reviewed some the changes in the vessel
design as part of the design refresh. There has been weight growth due to
changes in the IACS Polar Class Rules. The
ship has been lengthened by 6 feet to 242 feet LOA. The length was added aft of the deck house.
The ARRV shipyard construction award will be based on total cost including
transit from the shipyard to the vessel’s homeport in Seward. A 30-month build period is planned. Details of the project can be found at <http://www.sfos.uaf.edu/arrv/>
A question was asked if
the radiated noise specification for the ship is to meet ICES. Marc – The goal was for the ARRV to meet ICES;
however, The ICES curve is very
expensive to meet and as a result the ARRV will not meet the ICES specification.
Interagency Working Group on Facilities (IWG-F) – Bob Winokur reported on
the IWG-F’s proposed future efforts. His
slides are included as Appendix VIII. The IWG-F Fleet Status report is at the printers and will be released soon.
IWG-F has proposed to
establish Ocean Facilities Priorities for the Next Decade in support
of the Ocean Research and Priorities Plan (ORPP) and Implementation
Strategy. The purpose of the effort is to conduct an assessment of the
facilities and infrastructure associated with implementation of the ORPP. A three step process is planned:
1. Develop principles for a “Facilities Implementation
Strategy”
2. Define current facilities and infrastructure
baseline
3. Define facilities gap/deficiencies and constraints
to implementing the ORPP
The draft Terms of Reference
and implementation strategy for the project are listed in Appendix VIII. IWG-F will interface with UNOLS during the
project. IWG-F is waiting for
JSOST to approve this proposed process and direct it.
Nancy Rabalais mentioned that there was a detailed infrastructure inventory done as part of the Ocean Commission study. Bob said that he is aware of the inventory and will use it as appropriate.
International Cruise Information Database and Website – Maureen Conte reported on the POGO-CoML initiative to set up an International Cruise Information Database and website. Slides are included as Appendix IX.
The Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans,
POGO, is a forum of directors and leaders of major oceanographic institutions
around the world and representatives of international and regional programs and
organizations to promote global oceanography, particularly the implementation
of an international and integrated global ocean observing system. At the 6th meeting of POGO in 2005, members
recognized the need to improve information sharing on pre-planned, planned,
current and past cruises to enhance awareness of opportunities, and to improve
the cost-effectiveness of cruises.
A working group was established to review the need for
an International Cruise Information Database and related website. The database would help scientists from
different countries coordinate future funded research through information about
research vessels of opportunity. It would
allow projects to conduct joint work and to fill empty berths. The database would aid in tracking and
distributing data. The POGO website <www.pogo-oceancruises.org>
includes access to three databases: an R/V directory, cruise programs,
and cruise summary reports.
Mike Prince reported that he is working with the POGO people in the UK to handle ship schedule changes in their database. They are working to allow for automatic dumps whenever the ship schedule changes.
2007/2008 UNOLS Goals and Priorities – The Council reviewed the 2007/2008 UNOLS goals and priorities <http://www.unols.org/info/issues.html> and discussed strategies for implementing the goals:
Goal: Lowering the barriers to effective use of UNOLS ships:
·
American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) Guidelines for
UNOLS Vessels– The final draft of the ADA Guidelines for UNOLS Vessels was circulated
to the Council for review and endorsement prior to the meeting <http://www.unols.org/committees/fic/ADA/ADAGuidelines_for_UNOLS_RVs_Final_Feb08.pdf>. A motion was made and passed to approve the ADA Guidelines for UNOLS Vessels (Rabalais/Morrison). Dolly Dieter thanked the
·
Harassment at Sea – Marcia McNutt and Mike Prince reported on
their efforts to explore on-line training programs for sexual harassment. Marcia
explained that there are commercial on-line courses available for supervisors
and for employees. The typical cost per
course is in a range of $20. In
Discussion:
-
Who should take the course?
Marcia indicated that harassment is an issue for crew and science
parties.
-
How often is an individual required to re-train? Mike – In
-
Peter Ortner – He likes the idea of adapting the training for ship
operations scenarios. The situations are
unique.