The UNOLS Transit Policy was developed by the Ship Scheduling Subcommittee in 2017 to clarify the responsibilities of sponsors for paying for transits between work areas, and establish this as a standard approach for all vessels in the U.S. Academic Research Fleet.
UNOLS Transit Policy v12 (2017) - PDF
UNOLS Transit Policy
1. The cruise/funder, or suite of cruises/funders, that needs a vessel in a particular area will pay proportionally for the transit to/from that area.
1a. If the vessel ends up at its home port, the transits to and from the operational area should be paid proportionally by the funder(s) that needed the vessel in the operational area.
1b. If the vessel ends up in a new operational area to service a new cruise(s)/funder(s), the transit from the old operational area to the new operational area should be divided proportionally between the two groups of users.
e.g. 1a: Cruises A, B and C (all with different funders) need to work in area Z and then goes back to home port. Their funders will proportionally split the transit costs to and from area Z.
e.g. 1b: Cruises 1, 2 and 3 need to work in area Y and then Cruises 4,5, and 6 need to work in area Z and then the vessel goes back to its home port. The funders for cruise 1, 2, and 3 pay the transit proportionally to get the ship to area Y. The transit to move the ship from Area Y to Area Z is equally split between the funders of 1,2, & 3, as well as funders 4,5,6.. Funders for 4,5, & 6 pay all the transit proportionally back to the home port. This sequence can be repeated to infinity.
Footnote 1: “Proportionality” is based on the number of funded days in the operational area.
Footnote 2: Shipyards Transits- Transits to/from a shipyard are “non-charge” days unless the transit from the shipyard is to the operational area for the next series of cruises – in that case the next series of cruises pays the transit
Footnote 3: Normally the ship will move forward to the closest viable port in the direction of the next cruise.
Exception 1:
Funders may agree to cover the transit allocation of other funders, which would be negotiated between the funders.
Exception 2:
Unlike the policy noted above, funders of Global Class Research Vessel cruises will, on a case basis, proportionally pay for transit costs to a new operational area and only incur transit costs from that operational area if they have work in the next operating area. This exception acknowledges that most vessels of this class, during some scheduling periods, are rarely at home port.