International Research Ship Operators (ISOM)
The International Research Ship Operators'
Meeting (ISOM) is an informal annual meeting (September/October) of
managers of ocean research ship fleets for the purpose of discussing
subjects and solving problems of mutual interest.
It is attended voluntarily and is hosted by
and in participating countries. It does not work under any formal
organization. At each Meeting the members decide whether or not to
continue; ISOM has been in existence under this formula since 1986.
ISOM has close links with, and attendance from, the European Commission
and University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (
UNOLS) and welcomes
links with other like bodies.
The purpose of ISOM through its discussions is
to assist the marine scientific community in the provision of ever
better support services for research at sea.
Visit the ISOM web site -
here
UK/USA Bi-lateral Barter Arrangement
Since the mid-1980's NERC has had a bi-lateral
barter arrangement with the National Science Foundation (
NSF). This arrangement
provides the NERC science community with access to the marine
facilities that are programmed by the University-National Oceanographic
Laboratory System (
UNOLS).
At this time the UNOLS is responsible for the scheduling of scientific
cruises aboard the 27 research vessels located at 20 operating
institutions in the USA. More information on the UNOLS and the marine
facilities that it programmes can be found on the UNOLS web site.
Ocean Facilities Exchange Group
Since 1996 a tri-partite barter arrangement has
existed between France, Germany and the UK. In February 1996, a
Tripartite Agreement was signed between NERC (Natural Environment
Research Council), IFREMER (Institut Français de Recherche pour
l'Exploitation de la Mer) and BMBF (Bundesministerium für Bildung und
Forschung) for the mutual cooperation of marine scientific interests
and activities. Under the aegis of this agreement a Marine Facilities
Tripartite Group (MFTG) was established which comprises the managers
and planners of the respective fleets of scientific research ships and
major marine facilities. This group has been meeting since 1996 with
the primary objective of bartering shiptime and exchanging major marine
equipment without the need to charter or exchange money. In November
2002, the NIOZ (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research) became a
full member and in April 2003 a Spanish representative was invited to
attend meetings as an observer. In light of the fact that the Group now
had more than three members the MFTG was re-named the Ocean Facilities
Exchange Group (OFEG).
From each organisation's perspective, this
arrangement has two significant advantages. Firstly, it allows
scientists access to a wider range of facilities and equipment than
would otherwise be possible. This includes 12 research ships and other
facilities such as manned submersibles, remotely operated vehicles
(ROVs), towed arrays and shipboard surveying systems. Such facilities
are required to carry out "cutting edge" research, but are frequently
so expensive that it makes little sense for each country to purchase
their own facilities.
Secondly, it reduces wasted time, and
therefore wasted cost, spent on long passage legs between areas of
scientific interest, and allows scientists access to a wider range of
geographical areas in a given year.
In these ways the tripartite agreement
promotes more efficient and cost effective use of each country's
national resources.
To facilitate the arrangement, each country
has now synchronised its annual planning cycle. In the spring and
autumn of each year the Group meets to consider programming and
bartering possibilities.
Although the underlying principal is that no
money changes hands, the arrangement does not provide "free" ship time.
For every cruise on a foreign ship, the beneficiary country must mount
a full cruise on one of its own ships in return, and to an equivalent
value. The operating costs still fall to the ship owners, and each
country has an appropriate scheme of banking to support the process. An
equivalence points system has been agreed for the value of each of the
ships, to ensure like-for-like value. Points are allocated per ship day
used.
Access to these facilities is now
automatically incorporated into the planning cycle. For more
information on how the agreement works or how to arrange a specific
barter, interested marine researcher should contact the representatives
in their own country, who will act on behalf of the community to
negotiate barters as required.
It is anticipated that this tripartite
agreement on co-operative programming and exchange of facilities may be
the beginning of a coordinated research fleet of European partners,
underpinned by nationally owned and managed resources.
Barter Exchange Valuations of MFTG
* Currently available for joint cruises
but not for exchange of shiptime
** Includes technician support
*** from Spring 2005 |
Barter exchanging protocols for ship-time
- The programming of ship-time will remain the sole responsibility of the owner
- The ship-time barter costs in the above table cover all ship related costs (incl. victual, fuel and port charges)
- For barter cruises that take advantage of the ship's passage, the barter cost may only be for the days that are additional to passage
- All mobilisation and demobilisation time for barter cruises will be provided at an additional barter cost to the borrower
- All ship-time will be provided with support for all of the ship's fitted systems at no additional barter cost to the borrower - with the exception of the multibeam echo sounder
- All ship-time will, when required, be provided with the owner's CTD system and a technician to support it. This may be at an additional cost to the borrower
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