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Ship Operations & Marine Technical Support

Ship Operations and Marine Technical Support (SOMTS) is headed by Associate Director Bruce Appelgate. It consists of three major parts, the heads of which report directly to him:

Nimitz Marine Facility and the SIO ships

The four current SIO ships, all members of the UNOLS fleet, are homeported at the Nimitz Marine Facility (Marfac) on Point Loma. Captain Tom Althouse is in charge of the operations of the facility and all ships. This includes crewing, operations, maintenance/overhaul/drydock, acquisition of new equipment, port logistics worldwide, and heavy involvement in ship scheduling from the standpoint of operational feasibility (see #3 below), as well as management of Marfac with its piers, shops, buildings and related infrastructure. The research platform FLIP is homeported at Marfac, though managed operationally by the Marine Physical Lab. FLIP marine personnel matters are handled by the Marfac business office. The NOAA ship David Starr Jordan uses Marfac as homeport (and pays for utilities and services used there).

Shipboard Technical Support (STS)

Housed primarily in Isaacs Hall, but with one STS group (the heavily ship-connected Resident Technicians) generally located at Marfac for ease of ship access, this component is headed by Woody Sutherland, STS manager. Jim Swift serves as a scientific adviser to STS, with special expertise in the realm of water column physical and chemical observations. STS provides seagoing scientific equipment and associated technical services across a wide spectrum of oceanographic tasks and user requirements (SIO and other PIs), on SIO ships and also on other ships worldwide. The capabilities of STS range from scientific logistics, deck operations and safety oversight to marine seismic profiling to global satellite communications at sea (HiSeasNet) to CTD operations to biological sampling (MOCNESS systems) to shipboard computer systems and networks, and much more. Like Marfac, STS is in close consultation with the ship schedulers (#3 below) on questions of operational feasibility of various schedule options.

STS comprises about 45 individuals; the annual operating budget is about $7M. Additional (smaller) amounts are awarded for oceanographic equipment and other special purposes.

Ship Scheduling and Clearance Office

This function is shared equally by Rose Dufour and Elizabeth Brenner, situated in La Jolla directly adjacent to Appelgate's office, and assisted by one full-time employee. They manage the ceaseless iterative process of scheduling and rescheduling SIO ships, in close consultation with user scientists, other institutional schedulers, and - importantly - with STS and Marfac to ensure schedule feasibility from the standpoints of operations, equipment availability, etc. As in any overconstrained system perfect solutions are seldom possible, only good compromises. An important aspect of the work is to obtain clearances under the UNCLOS framework to conduct research in foreign EEZs, ensuring that all the relevant diplomatic requirements are met at the outset and that post-cruise obligations are discharged properly so as not to endanger the granting of future clearances. This office is generally the initial point of contact for prospective user scientists. Liz and Rose also currently serve as co-chairs of the UNOLS Scheduling Committee.

Further note. Joan Durkin heads a consolidated joint Marfac-STS business office handling the full suite of business functions common to UCSD units. The center of gravity of this office is at Marfac, with a smaller portion at Isaacs Hall. Over and above the common functions, the complex specialized tasks associated with hiring, retaining and compensating marine personnel, particularly licensed officers, are dealt with by this office. Joan reports primarily to Tom Althouse and Woody Sutherland, to ensure that the work of the business office meets the needs of both Marfac and STS while still adhering to relevant UCSD policies, fiscal standards, etc.

Final note. The funding discussion above does not split out the modest non-federal support via UC Ship Funds, a composite of (a) direct allocation of UC research funds and (b) a newly-instated overhead return component. These are administered directly by Appelgate, with advice from a subcommittee of the Marine Operations Committee, and are targeted at worthy uses (e.g. ship time for student thesis work) that are difficult or impossible to fund via federal programs. Having suffered severe cuts early this decade they have now recovered, thanks to (b), to a level that meets our ongoing obligation ($900k/year) to the Navy in respect of matching funds for R/V Roger Revelle, and leaves a small remainder for uses involving other ships. It is hoped that (b) will increase the total over time as more grants fall under the new overhead scheme, regaining some ground lost in the earlier cuts.