Proposal Number: 1019806 Institution: University of Miami PI: R. Kniffin
This proposal requests numerous Shipboard Scientific Support Equipment (SSSE) items for the R/V WALTON SMITH operated by the University of Miami; namely stern A-frame repairs, anchor windlass design and installation, electronic navigation system up-grades, and analysis of the vessel?s deck bolting pattern. All of the items requested will either improve safety or enhance the science support capability of the vessel.
Broader Impacts: The R/V WALTON SMITH supports federally funded scientific research in the southern Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico in order to expand human knowledge of the ocean environment. During operations, the vessel routinely exposes graduate and undergraduate students to seagoing oceanography. Pubic outreach is also achieved through real-time satellite connectivity from ship to shore, open house events, and educational cruises. The WALTON SMITH is scheduled to complete approximately 100 NSF sponsored days in 2010.
Award Number: OCE-1019806 Supplemental Award Number: OCE-1201847 Submitted June 1, 2012 by Richard Kniffin, Director of Marine Operations, University of Miami/RSMAS The F.G. Walton Smith is a 2000 96 x 40’ catamaran research vessel owned and operated by the University of Miami and supported by the National Science Foundation. The ship is primarily dedicated to Federal Agency tropical science projects in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and the Western Atlantic Ocean. This award was made to upgrade various systems on the ship as follows: Overhaul A-frame – The A-frame is the main science tool that allows for deployment and recovery of scientific instruments. We overhauled the A-frame by replacing some bad steel, rebuilding the winch on the top, scaling and coating everything and replacing the hydraulic hoses. Everything came out great! Replace anchor windlasses – We anchor the boat quite a bit especially in support of NSF sponsored diving research cruises. The anchor windlasses originally installed were underpowered and essentially worn out from 11 years of use. We replaced them with a stronger upgraded version of the same units, replaced hydraulic hoses and the control valves. This whole project went very smoothly and we are happy with performance of the new anchor windlasses. Install two depth sounders in the bridge – We had previously a single small depth sounder in the bridge for navigation purposes (different from our scientific sounders) and this project enabled us to place a separate transducer located far forward in each hull with larger color displays in the bridge. When operating a catamaran in quite shallow water it is very important to know the depth of the water under each hull and the operator should be able to get this information instantly. This project did exactly that and we have been very happy with the results. Integrate AIS into radar - Automatic Identification System (AIS) gives information about other ships within a certain range, such as name, position, course, speed, bearing, etc. This upgrade gets this information to our radar display and is very useful. Upgrade winch monitoring system – The two scientific winches normally aboard the ship were being monitored at a certain rate (frequency). This upgrade allows them to be monitored at a faster rate which is necessary to be compliant with Research Vessel Safety Standards in order to safely work with lower factors of safety. Deck bolting pattern analysis – Research vessels in the US academic fleet all have threaded sockets on their decks located two feet apart so that scientific and other equipment can be brought aboard and safely bolted down. We needed to analyze the strength of these sockets because they were aluminum (like the ship) and the threads were wearing out. After the analysis was completed it was obvious that we had to replace all of these aft deck sockets which we did including stainless steel thread inserts. This was a big project that took about four weeks to complete and additional time to do the required testing. Now we have a very good understanding of the loads allowed and all of the sockets are now in excellent condition. Swivel pole mount system – There is often a need to mount a science party supplied transducer on a pole alongside the ship. In the past we had a pole that we literally bolted to the side of the ship using clamps. It was necessary to hang someone over the side in a boson’s chair to do this so if it was rough or at night we could not do it. A swivel pole mount system allows the pole to swivel from horizontal to vertical on a pin with very little effort. This is a custom designed and installed system that works very well and has been a very valuable addition to the ships capabilities. Summary –All of these items funded by the National Science Foundation have given us some valuable tools that we did not previously have and have definitely increased the level of safety employed in our research vessel cruises.
