Proposal Number: 1230974 Institution: Oregon State University PI: D. Bailey
This proposal requests three Shipboard Scientific Support Equipment (SSSE) items for Oregon State University?s R/V OCEANUS; namely Asset Management Software, Electronic Charting System (ECS) enhancements, and a new cable lubricating system. These items will improve navigational safety, enhance utility to science, and improve the overall maintenance and operational efficiency of the vessel.
Broader Impacts: The R/V OCEANUS supports federally-funded scientific research in the Pacific 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, and open house events. The OCEANUS is scheduled to complete one hundred and thirty four (134) NSF sponsored days in 2012.
This project provided equipment to enhance the operational capabilities of the National Science Foundation owned, R/V OCEANUS that is operated by Oregon State University. A total of $104,523 was awarded to Oregon State University/Ship Operations. These funds were first provided in the amount of $68,523 and a supplemental award of $36,000 was intern awarded. The first award included funds for the purchase of the following equipment: modifications to oceanographic winch, electronic charting system, vessel maintenance software and cable lubing device. The supplemental award included funds for an internal communication system (PA). At this time, all funds included in this award have been expended. The majority of the funds in the initial award were used to purchase equipment needed to prepare the vessel for work scheduled to take place in the Western Pacific. This was particularly true of the electronic navigation system, (Transas Electronic Navigation System) that was used as a redundant system to one currently in place on the vessel. The installation for this went very well and the system has been up and running without incident since the installation in the 3rd quarter of 2012. In addition, the modification to the ship’s deep-sea oceanographic winch rollers was also completed earlier this year (2013cy). This winch (Markey DESH-5) is now in compliance with RVSS Appendix A for use with a factor of safety of 2.0 to 1.5. The winch has been used at sea in support of science and is working effectively. We have not experienced any issues with level-winding cable on deep casts and we feel this was a successful upgrade to a very important piece of sampling equipment. Funds associated with this award were also provided for the purchase of an asset management software suite (ABS NS5). The decision to purchase this type system was based on the fact that the OCEANUS had been using it in the past and the database associated with it had already been populated with accurate and relevant information. Also, OSU had a limited number of personnel who had experience with this program. The software program was purchased, training provided to other personnel and servers were setup to handle the data. Unfortunately, we have experienced a number of issues with the implementation of the program as well as the type of data provided to OSU in the current database. Perhaps the biggest issue faced by OSU is the difficulty in obtaining software and technical support from the manufacturer. This has significantly delayed the formal implementation of the program. It appears this type of program is better suited for larger operations where an employee can be dedicated to the implementation and maintenance of this type of program. Assigning a dedicated employee to this is the model used at other commercial operations such as tugboat companies and shipping lines. Also, after reviewing the data provided from the previous operators, we noticed that much of it included outdated or irrelevant specifications for much of the vessels installed equipment. This will require significant efforts to correct. It should also be mentioned that the current program requires a significant annual fee to be paid to the manufacturer to keep the system active whether it is being actively used in an operation or not. We are currently evaluating cost-effective alternatives to this system prior to the full implementation of it in the operation. The supplemental funds associated with this award were also used to purchase a PA system for the vessel. This was needed prior to the ship’s departure for to the Western Pacific. A system was purchased (Radio Holland, MPA1600) and installed on the vessel in the 4th quarter of 2012. The integration of the system into the vessel went well and it has been performing without incident. This was a very important addition to the vessel and helped to address concerns raised by both NSF inspectors as well as scientists.
