ANTARCTIC RESEARCH VESSEL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEEMEETING AGENDANEW ORLEANS, LA AND LA ROSE, LAWednesday, 08 October- ARVOC EXECUTIVE SESSION-Committee Members Only 1930-2100 in the "Board Room", Airport Hilton Thursday, 09 October- Depart Airport Hilton Hotel by bus for Edison Chouest Offshore 0730-0900 travel TENTATIVE AGENDA FOR THE R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD DEDICATION CEREMONY 1400- 1430 DISTINGUISHED GUESTS/NSF REPRESENTATIVES/ASA REPRESENTATIVES/ arrive, vessel 1530-1600 Light Refreshments 0830- Call to Order, Review of Agenda- D. Karl
ANTARCTIC RESEARCH VESSEL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE(ARVOC)ATTENDANCECommittee Members: Dr. Steven Cande 619-534-1552 F 619-534-0784 Dr. Douglas Martinson 914/365-8830 F 914/365-8736 Dr. Robin Ross 805-893-8062 F 805-893-8062
Dr. Bruce Sidell 207/581-2563 F 207/581-2537 Dr. Kenneth Smith 619/534-4858 F 619/534-7313 Dr. Walker Smith 423/964-5226 F 423/974-3067 (was unable to attend October meeting) (was unable to attend October meeting) National Science Foundation (NSF/OPP):
Mr. Erick Chiang EMAIL: echiang@nsf.gov Antarctic Support Associates (ASA): Ms. Rhonda Kelly EMAIL: kellyrh.asa@asa.org Other Guests: List of Appendices(appendices not posted to www) Vessel Design Review (1) ACTION ITEMS OCTOBER 1997ACTION 1: MARINE POSITION DESCRIPTIONS ARE TO BE INCLUDED AS ATTACHMENTS IN THESE OCTOBER 1997 MINUTES. ACTION 2: CHIP KENNEDY WILL PREPARE A WEEKLY STATUS REPORT ON THE R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD AND SEND IT VIA E-MAIL TO COMMITTEE MEMBERS, NSF, AND ASA. ACTION 3: ALAN MOORE - ACTIONS FOR DATA COMMUNICATIONS IMPROVEMENT AS OUTLINED BY A. MOORE ARE: ACTION 4: ALAN MOORE WILL LINK THE MARINE PAGE TO THE R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD ENGINEERING PROJECTS. ACTION 5: ASA- USER MANUAL WILL BE DISTRIBUTED TO SCIENCE GROUPS PRIOR TO THEIR EMBARKATION. ACTION 6: SCIENCE GROUPS WILL IDENTIFY WHAT SYSTEMS THEY WILL BRING TO THE VESSEL. THIS WILL ALLOW ASA TO IDENTIFY WHAT SPARE PARTS, TOOLS, AND REFERENCE MATERIALS NEED TO BE ONBOARD. ACTION 7: THE ARVOC WILL MAKE A FORMAL RECOMMENDATION TO NSF AND ASA REGARDING THE BERTHING ISSUE. ACTION 8: CONVERTIBLE DAYBED SETTEE ABOARD THE R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD WILL BE A PART OF THE FORMAL RECOMMENDATION FROM THE ARVOC. ACTION 9: AT THE NEXT ARVOC MEETING THE COMMITTEE WILL DISCUSS THE POSITION DATA COLLECTION AND THE SUPPORT THAT IS NEEDED TO ANALYZE THE DATA. PRIOR TO THE NEXT MEETING COMMITTEE MEMBERS ARE ASKED TO SEND, ELECTRONICALLY, THEIR IDEAS/SUGGESTIONS TO DAWN SCARBORO, ASA. THE INFORMATION WILL THEN BE COMBINED INTO ONE DOCUMENT FOR SUBMISSION TO D. KARL AND WILL BE A TOPIC OF DISCUSSION AT THE NEXT ARVOC MEETING. ACTION 10: Refer to Action Item 4, April, 1997, and S. Kottmeier's draft for a revised ARVOC Charter. (appendix 17) COMMITTEE MEMBERS ARE ASKED TO REVIEW THE DRAFT CHARTER AND ANY ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS/ CHANGES SHOULD BE SUBMITTED TO D. KARL. A REVISED CHARTER, INCORPORATING RECOMMENDATIONS, WILL THEN BE SUBMITTED FOR ARVOC, NSF, AND ASA ACTION 11: AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE NEXT ARVOC MEETING SHOULD BE SUBMITTED TO D. KARL AND D. SCARBORO FOR INCLUSION IN THE APRIL OR MAY, 1998, MEETING. 08 October 1997 New Orleans Airport Hilton I. ARVOC Executive Session - 7:00PMNo Minutes 09 October 1997 II. Introduction and WelcomeD. Karl opened the ARVOC meeting and reviewed the day's agenda. D. Karl also added his appreciation to D. Martinson for continuing to serve as ex-officio ARVOC member. Following round-table introductions, D. Karl turned the meeting over to C. Kennedy. III. R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD Status ReportA. Sutherland noted that, as the committee will be touring the vessel while it's still under construction, any significant committee recommendations made this week may not occur until the vessel's next shipyard period. All committee recommendations are welcome and will be taken under advisement. C. Kennedy's status report presentation included vessel design review (appendix 1), discussion of changes and additions (appendix 2), vessel stability and design modifications, performance (appendix 3), Palmer Station docking diagrams (appendix 4), and the schedule for completion and delivery (appendix 5). Vessel design discussions included: Profile changes involve the addition of ice reamers which will stabilize the vessel. The ice reamers will improve the ship's performance in ice. The crane has been moved forward. There is no longer an ice tower on the vessel. The mast for INMARSAT is in place. This mast will also support the piping for the uncontaminated air supply. A sealed, heated video-camera will be mounted under the INMARSAT dome to aid visibility. A liquid ballast has been added to the vessel for stability assistance. Tank top arrangement is basically without any changes. Lower deck area is where the science vans will be located. Main deck, baltic room winch is in place. Last month, cabinets, tables, dry lab space were rearranged. Committee members will be able to see the basic layout but this area is still incomplete. Crane is able to extend to 65 feet and lift 13 tons at 26 feet. There appears to be more than adequate reach with stability. 01 deck There are 13 cabins for a total of 28 persons on this deck. The cabins are designated for ship's crew, ASA staff, and scientific party berthing. Presently, according to C. Kennedy, there are plans for two(2) four-person cabins. ARVOC members voiced strong opposition to sailing with four-person cabins. Issues of concern included: morale will most definitely be negatively impacted; assigning these cabins becomes difficult; obtaining adequate sleep, allotting personal and storage space becomes a problem. A settee could be installed in the day room of both the Chief Scientist and the MPC to allow two people to sleep in this area instead of having to use four-person cabins. C. Kennedy is still negotiating with ECO and added that this issue will need to be discussed further. The winch has been moved over to the corner of this deck and is on a turntable. The zodiacs have been cleared from this area. Committee members were asked to look at this deck during the walk-through and advise if more tie-downs might be needed. 02 deck is designated for 9 cabins, for a total of 15 persons including the Captain, ship's crew, ASA staff and scientific party personnel. 03 deck is lower in height than the other decks and is the electronics deck. Also, the incinerator and garbage collection areas are located on this deck. 04 deck is the bridge area and private office space for the captain. A cat walk has been added to serve as bridge wings. The cat walk allows for unobstructed vision and is similar to the R/V NATHANIEL B. PALMER arrangement. The 2" stainless steel clean air sampling pipe runs through the overhead and terminates on the interior bulkhead, just above the counter top in the aft starboard work area of the Bridge. The hull steel plate thicknesses are ABS class one- which is significantly less than the R/V NATHANIEL B. PALMER. C. Kennedy discussed the addition of ice reamers to the hull of the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD. Prior to moving the vessel from the construction shed to the drydock, ship's stability was completely recalculated. As a result of this process of checking, it was determined that an error in the original stability calculations of the preliminary design had been made. The centers of gravity from the structure had been correctly identified; the centers of buoyancy, however, were incorrectly located. As a result it was determined that the vessel would not have sufficient initial stability when she was afloat. That is, the vessel would not have sufficient righting arm to keep her in the absolute vertical position. As the vessel heeled to one side she would immediately gain sufficient buoyancy and righting arm to generate more than adequate stability. Obviously, correction had to be made to cause the vessel to have proper righting arm stability in the vertical. To achieve this result ECO needed to increase the distance between the centers of buoyancy and gravity. To lower the center of gravity, weight could be added to the lower portion of the vessel. However, as in all cases for the vessel, the vessel would be required to maintain its ability to meet the performance requirements of the Charter. Therefore, a quantity of ballast weight could not be added which would prevent the ship from meeting the draft limitations for docking at Palmer Station. In addition, the Open Water Speed, Deck Wetness, Freeboard and Endurance requirements constrained ECO from raising the ship's water line too much. The other approach was to add buoyancy to the vessel, thus raising the center of buoyancy. Typically this is accomplished with the addition of sponsons to the sides of the stern section of the hull. Design change discussions between ECO, NAS, ASA, and their subcontractual naval architecture groups decided to pursue the design route taken by the Finnish Shipbuilding design team which produced the M/V FENNICA. That vessel incorporated ice reamers into the forward part of the hull to give the vessel greater maneuverability in ice and to create a wider open channel behind the vessel in ice operations. ECO decided to create side sponsons for buoyancy, designed as effective ice reamers for the vessel. Design work and calculations resulted in an ice reamer shape which would provide the necessary buoyancy, in combination with the addition of some semi-fluid ballast in the double bottoms of the ship. It is also predicted that the ice reamers will improve the vessel's ability to maneuver both forward and astern in ice, without significant impact on the open water performance of the vessel. Immediately following lunch, ARVOC members, NSF representatives, ASA staff, and guests left Edison Chouest offices for a walk-through of the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD prior to the Dedication Ceremony. All were asked to observe and make notes of any recommendations/ suggestions as they tour the vessel. Recommendations will be discussed at tomorrow's ARVOC meeting. IV. R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD DEDICATION CEREMONYThe dedication ceremony was held at North American Shipbuilders, La Rose, LA. Following a welcome by L. Chouest, A. Sutherland introduced the guest speakers and Mrs. Ruth Siple, Antarctican Society. For dedication ceremony agenda, vessel specifications, and presentation speeches by P. Kresan and E. Henrickson refer to (appendix 6). Also, D. Karl spoke on behalf of the science community, J. Hunt spoke on behalf of NSF/OPP, and R. Murphy spoke on behalf of ASA. R. Ruth Siple christened the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD before a estimated crowd of 200 North American Shipbuilder employees and guests. Transport back to New Orleans- 5:30pm. 10 October 1997 D. Karl welcomed R. Ruth Siple to the meeting, reviewed briefly today's agenda and asked if there were any additions to the agenda from the floor. V. NSF PresentationA. Sutherland discussed the NSF budget proposal (appendix 7) that now has the House and the Senate approvals and is awaiting presidential signature. The proposed budget includes 5% new initiatives, however Operations and Science Support budgets remain basically flat. One positive action, though, is an additional $70 million dedicated to construction of a new
South Pole facility. This means funds for the rehab will not be taken out of the operating budgets. $70 million isn't the entire amount needed to build the new South Pole facility. The balance will be requested in subsequent budgets. VI. ASA PresentationD. McWilliams asked the ARVOC for suggestions of who might be available to participate in the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD sea trials. If there are three people from the science community that might be available to help test equipment, they should contact him within the next week. Sea trials are scheduled for late November to early December. Regarding the R/V NATHANIEL B. PALMER operations, D. McWilliams reported that vessel and the science cruises have been extremely successful, morale has remained high, and the scientists have been satisfied with their research. The R/V NATHANIEL B. PALMER will again have ice-edge transfers at McMurdo as this was so successful last season. It was requested that scientists plan their cargo early as the helos used to transport to ice- edge can only haul small loads. Options include: cargo can be loaded in Lyttelton, NZ, with early cruises, shipped via the GREENWAVE or the U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers. The ships' schedules (appendix 8) were presented for ARVOC review. D. McWilliams also discussed an overview of how operational requirements for the cruises will be handled prior to the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD's sailing (appendix 8). The contract for the vessel, the ABEL J, a short-term stand-in for the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD, is still being negotiated but it's expected this vessel will sail November 9 from Punta Arenas to Livingston Island for the COPA and Cape Sherriff openings. Also, plans are for scientists, staff, and minor cargo to travel to Palmer Station from Ushuaia, Argentina, via the WORLD DISCOVERER (9 passengers) on November 9. The tentative cruise schedule lists the ABEL J, WORLD DISCOVERER, and the EXPLORER sailing during November and December until the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD comes on-line January 6, 1998 with the LTER cruise. D. Karl noted that, although this ARVOC meeting is focused primarily on the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD, the committee should also consider discussion regarding any issues of concern with the R/V NATHANIEL B. PALMER's operation. There were no specific issues from the floor. However, D. Karl did reference the Research Support Evaluation Questionnaire, R/V NATHANIEL B. PALMER 1996-1997 Season. It was suggested that ASA use this questionnaire to help identify and ultimately resolve problems on the vessels, i.e., e-mail, plumbing problem in cabin 133. Science of opportunity on northbound, hazardous waste retrograde voyages was discussed. D. McWilliams reported that event S-200 (Wade Jeffrey) took advantage of this opportunity last year and collected samples throughout the transit north to Louisiana. NSF will consider an appropriate means of advertising this opportunity. D. McWilliams reviewed the problems that caused the shipyard delays for the R/V NATHANIEL B. PALMER last June. In addition to monsoon-like rain conditions and major flooding in the area that hampered the rewelding, the major delay was having to pull the shaft bearing when unexpected cracks were discovered in the bearings. ASA expected a routine drydock period but unusual circumstances made this a difficult drydock period. The ASA Organization Chart, University Subcontractors, and position descriptions were reviewed. (appendix 9) Also, a Summary of Qualifications for Marine Operations personnel was presented. While this summary lists the marine personnel qualifications, it's not intended to be a "shopping list". D. McWilliams noted that cruises will continue to be staffed with the most effective personnel to complement the research being carried out. Also, included for in the appendix are position descriptions. ACTION 1: MARINE POSITION DESCRIPTIONS ARE TO BE INCLUDED AS ATTACHMENTS IN THESE OCTOBER 1997 MINUTES. The vessel Equipment Priority Lists were presented. (appendix 10) W. Smith suggested to ASA that, when equipment is purchased for the vessels, it would be helpful if this information is passed along to the PIs. D. Karl added that communications regarding the general status of the vessels, equipment purchased, construction changes, etc. should be improved. It was noted that the ARVOC does not necessarily need to be or want to be a part of the decision making process, rather, the ARVOC needs to be in the information loop. Discussion ensued about the need to inform the committee about the construction and acceptance progress of the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD. ACTION 2: CHIP KENNEDY WILL PREPARE A WEEKLY STATUS REPORT ON THE R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD AND SEND IT VIA E-MAIL TO COMMITTEE MEMBERS, NSF, AND ASA. R. Kluckhohn gave a progress report on the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD laboratory layout and equipment status (overviews as shown in appendix 11). R. Kluckhohn discussed the seawater intake system. The seawater intake system incorporates a strainer and debubbler. The intake for the systems is in the moonpool and thus should avoid ice clogging. It was pointed out that North American Shipbuilders designed the strainer into the science lab cabinet so no space is lost. The heating pipe (refer to PVC performance graphs) and the lab vans/berthing vans (refer to layout diagrams) were discussed briefly. The vans are reconditioned vans and the final configurations are still being decided. It's expected, however, that all final layout decisions will be made over the next few weeks and they will be delivered within one month. A. Moore's presentation on the status of data communications onboard the R/V NATHANIEL B. PALMER and the system soon to be installed on the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD included analysis, options, vulnerabilities (appendix 12). A. Moore, while noting that e-mail aboard the vessels is a difficult topic without easy solutions, reported that the e-mail process has been systematically analyzed to determine reasons for failures. ACTION 3: ALAN MOORE - ACTIONS FOR DATA COMMUNICATIONS IMPROVEMENT AS OUTLINED BY A. MOORE ARE: It was noted that the ten proposed actions listed above may not be a comprehensive solution list for all problems. However, A. Moore believes that by implementing these actions improved e-mail service to the science communities can be provided aboard the vessels. ACTION 4: ALAN MOORE WILL LINK THE MARINE PAGE TO THE R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD ENGINEERING PROJECTS. D. Karl requested that a DAS User Manual be prepared as quickly as possible for use aboard the R/V LAURENCE M. GOULD. ACTION 5: ASA- USER MANUAL WILL BE DISTRIBUTED TO SCIENCE GROUPS PRIOR TO THEIR EMBARKATION. ACTION 6: SCIENCE GROUPS WILL IDENTIFY WHAT SYSTEMS THEY WILL BRING TO THE VESSEL. THIS WILL ALLOW ASA TO IDENTIFY WHAT SPARE PARTS, TOOLS, AND REFERENCE MATERIALS NEED TO BE ONBOARD. The four additional LAN drops requested by the ARVOC will be installed; as much capacity as allowed is being pulled through the system and will accommodate future growth; generic DAS software that is more user friendly (Lab View) will be implemented; D. Menzies' recommendations/ suggestions were taken into consideration and he is quite pleased with the progress to-date; three information systems staff will be onboard during the seatrials and transit south. They will do
final installation and hookups; a Denver location "test bed" situation has been developed to allow grantees training before VII. AICC Report - Dr. Lisa CloughL. Clough reported on the recent AICC meeting and the status of the U.S. Coast Guard vessel, the HEALY. The next AICC meeting is scheduled for January 21-23, 1998 and will be held in New Orleans and at Avondale shipyard. ARVOC presentation is welcome. Plans are for the first "science" cruise to occur in the year 2000. The time period between dedication and science cruises will be used for extensive ice trials (carried out by the Coast Guard Set-up Committee) and extensive testing of the ship's science systems. Current issues of concern for the science community that are presently being decided are: will the jumbo piston coring have an aft A-frame or crane for 24m cores? will the cores be 24m cores or 30m cores? Scheduling for the USCG HEALY will be handled through UNOLS Homepage (appendix 13) as will clearance issues. Also, the Icebreaker Science of Opportunity Request form is available through http://www.gso.uri.edu./unols/aiccsoo/sooform.htm (appendix 13) L. Clough pointed out that the U.S. Coast Guard makes the final determination on which science groups sail on the USCG HEALY. However, AICC reviews, advises and may have input on the science groups wanting to sail. Captain of the vessel will be CDR. Garrett and the individual in charge in Washington, D.C., is CDR. George Dupree. Agreements with NASA and NOAA-NURP are pending the "top 10" items. (refer appendix 14) L. Clough ended by stating that the primary mission of the USCG HEALY is science research and that this will continue to be the primary mission unless future funding decreases and results in negatively impacting the USCG HEALY operations. III. Status Report-General Discussion of the
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NOTE: This meeting report is an archived document which formerly appeared in the ASA web site folder of meeting reports for the Antarctic Research Vessel Oversight Committee (ARVOC). The current ARVOC reports now appear here: http://www.usap.gov/usapgov/conferencesCommitteesAndWorkshops/userCommittees/sctnARVOC.cfm. This old report is no longer online; the contact information (emails/addresses/telephone numbers) and other links were current as of the report date but have not been updated. The HTML code has been adjusted slightly to improve readability, comply with current standards, and add reference links.