A scientific expedition onboard a research ship is commonly known as a cruise, which can give the wrong impression. A research cruise is an exceedingly busy and complex exercise, requiring detailed planning and preparation.  For many scientists, the cruise will be the culmination of several years of effort, and they have high expectations.  Indeed, the ships work 24/7 and ‘dead’ transition time swapping between different sampling systems has to be minimized, so the technical manning, working decks and labs all have to be individually organised and optimised for each cruise. Additionally, once the ship is on-site, going back to port because something has been forgotten isn’t really an option when it’s several days sailing time away.

Programming

The first step in this process is to actually organise all the funded projects for the coming year into an overall programme.  Because the programme comprises a range of specialised facilities in addition to the ships, its known as NERC’s Marine Facilities Programme (MFP) and runs on a financial year basis from 1 April – 31 March.  The MFP is organised by a group made up of:

• NERC Marine Planning Officer;
• BAS’ Ship Operations Manager; and
• NMFSS’ Programme Manager.

There is also substantial interaction with NERC’s barter partners, particularly OFEG, to ensure the programme is the most efficient that can be compiled.  To do this, the team has to take a range of issues into account:

• Geography – almost all research projects aim to carry out a study in a particular region of interest, and where possible it makes sense to group cruises together which may be going to the same area, in order to minimise passage time e.g. grouping time in the Southern Ocean with ones in the Southern Indian Ocean or South Eastern Pacific makes sense;
• Timeliness – some cruises can only be conducted at certain times of the year e.g. studies of the spring algal bloom;
• Continuity – some cruises contribute to the continuation of a time-series e.g. moorings need to be recovered and re-deployed to replenish batteries and recover data from long-standing deployments; and
• Mobilisation – the time taken to mobilise some specialised equipment suites can be both extensive and expensive so it makes sense to group together cruises that use such equipment such as seismic arrays.

Planning

There are a lot of complex elements to a cruise and making sure everything is ready to go on board ship at the right time is crucial.  To solve this logistical puzzle, a number of dedicated teams work together to get the ship, equipment, technicians, crew, and scientists ready to sail.  The lynchpins of this process are the Project Managers (PM), who coordinate all the planning and preparation to ensure  the ship will be set up as required by the cruises Principal Scientist (PS). 

The PMs have to work closely with the PS to ensure their requirements are translated into suitable staff and equipment provision.  An important part of any cruise is the mobilisation period, when a ship is prepared for a cruise, and the de-mobilisation, which is the reverse – combined, these two elements can last from a day to a week or more.  Such events normally occur back-to-back as one cruise completes and the next one commences, with the aim is to minimise time alongside in port. With so much occurring at once, including fueling and storing the ship, undertaking any repairs, and loading/unloading science equipment, the role of the PM is critical in getting these events right. Read more about programme management →

Overall the key elements that need to be planned are:

Ships

Within NMFSS, the Marine Operations team are responsible for arranging for the ship to be properly fueled and stored with food and spare parts. A less obvious, but equally critical part is to ensure that the ship’s route is planned in accordance with International Law.  Fundamental to this is the need to obtain diplomatic clearance from the Governments of the Coastal States in whose waters the ship will be conducting science.  This process takes a minimum of 6 months and can often be quite complex, with some countries only granting permission at the last moment.

• Marine Law

  Any Government funded marine scientific research in a Coastal States declared maritime zones are regulated under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Read more about Marine Law →

• Maritime law

  Maritime law is one of the oldest forms of law in existence and is a major consideration for any ship operator. Maritime law covers anything related to contract, commerce, shipping and worker compensation across the globe’s navigable waters.  Read more about Maritime Law →

Scientific Equipment

While the ship is fitted with some research equipment such as echosounders and winches, much of the specialist equipment is provided from the National Marine Equipment Pool (NMEP), which has been established as the central UK pool accessed by the UK marine science community.  Some systems may be accessed through barter arrangements with other partners.  Many of the systems are large and heavy, and in some cases, can only be handled from certain positions on the ship.  A great deal of the science is adaptive, so the technicians onboard have to be able to switch the equipment systems from one that may be used for coring to another one that is used for collecting water samples. 

Scientists expect the ship to work continuously so prior thought on what equipment is required and where it should be fitted is critical, while limited deck space means that there’s just not enough room for everything in the NMEP to be loaded ‘just in case’.  Equally, some systems are so critical that back-ups are required, while all equipment embarked has to be in date for tests and calibrations, as well as supplied with a full set of spares and other consumables such as oils and greases.  The ship’s working decks are fitted with a matrix of fixing bolts that enable the layout to be easily reconfigured during a port-call, laid out using a deck plan.

• Preparing equipment

  Once the equipment has been secured, the technicians need to make sure everything is working order.  This can involve checking for defects, making sure certificates are in date, replenishing consumables such as oil, calibrating, and pressure testing. Read more about Preparing equipment →

Technical Support Staff

Not only do NMFSS provide specialist scientific equipment, but also the skilled technicians and engineers to operate and maintain it at sea.  While all of the staff have a core set of skills, the need for multidisciplinary skills is essential.  As a result, careful planning of support staff is required to ensure that the correct skills are available to keep science going 24/7, but with the minimum total number. Some research cruises may be possible with just a couple of technical staff, while some of the more complex ones can require 10 or more.  All these staff need to need to be up to date with their training and medicals, while travel and visas also have to be arranged. Read more about groups our technicians work in →

• An engineering career

  There are many different areas people work in at the NOC, and science isn’t the only career path available.  Those working to support marine equipment generally come from an engineering background. Read more about a career in engineering →

Logistics

With sometimes up to 4 different research cruises underway at the same time in different parts of the world, and over 8000 items of equipment to be kept track of, logistics is a complex business.  The result is that our team handle about 1000 tonnes of equipment each year.  Needless to say attention to detail is critical as there’s no opportunity to replace an item you’ve left behind.  Indeed, for some cruises packing has to be done several months in advance because of shipping times, while often our own ships will mobilise in Southampton for 6 months or more of cruises. Read more about the logistics group →

Home | Back to top