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Mon Feb 10 11:53:46 EST 2003

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R/V MAURICE EWING Midlife Refit Planning Workshop


There was a planning workshop on October 22-23, 2002, to shape the nature of the midlife refit that the research vessel R/V MAURICE EWING would be undergoing over the next two years.

 

Workshop Motivation

The R/V MAURICE EWING is a capable but aging vessel (built in 1982), which requires a major refit. The needs of the ocean science and MG&G research communities have evolved since EWING was first acquired and converted for academic research operations. These needs have become substantially more diverse — questions, concerning which combination of capabilities EWING should have, become difficult to answer. In addition, the capabilities of the remainder of the UNOLS fleet have changed greatly — EWING’s role must be considered in the context of this overall fleet capability.

The Questions:

  • How might Ewing be upgraded to best address the scientific needs of the community?
  • What additional capabilities should the ship have?
  • What are the tradeoffs between optimizing seismic capabilities and general-purpose capabilities?
  • What is practical - reasonable - optimal?

    These questions must be answered in the context of both:
  • The evolving science needs of the U.S. community
  • The strengths and capabilities of the other vessels within the UNOLS fleet
  • The Federal plan for fleet enhancement and replacement over the next 15 years

The Workshop Process

  1. Solicitation of input from community via EOS ad; direct mailing; requests in community Newsletters
  2. Establishment of new internal advisory committee
  3. Establishment of a community-wide steering committee
  4. Production of extensive set of ‘Technical Option Papers’
  5. Workshop Activity and production of workshop report
  6. Formulation of set of feasible options for discussion

Overall Summary and Conclusions

Key Statements:

  • A refit of Ewing cannot improve 2-D MCS and provide an effective multiple streamer capability (for 3D) and substantially improve general-purpose operations.
  • Quality of present Ewing MCS operations would be substantially improved through increased repeatability of the sound source.
  • In the refit of Ewing, use of a linear airgun array forces serious compromises in OBS and general purpose operations.
  • In the refit of Ewing, without a linear airgun array, there are excellent options for new lab and deck layouts.

Workshop Conclusions and Recommendations:

If the goal is to: 

Tow Multiple Long Streamers

and: 

Improve general purpose/OBS capabilities,

then

Ewing cannot satisfy these needs, and the possibility of securing a used industry vessel should be studied

 

Workshop Report