108 OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 



Mr. Oli\t3r. You have been talking about the inefficiency of the 

 Albatross. Do you mean inefficiency as a vessel or do you mean also 

 perhaps that the crew itself has not been as competent as it should be? 



Mr. McKernan. I do not mean the latter. It is a very good crew. 



Mr. Oliver. You are talking about the vessel's inefficiency ? 



Mr. McKernan. Yes ; it has a very good crew. 



Mr. Oliver. They have been very interested in their work and in ih.Q 

 the objectives that you have been trying to reach ? 



Mr. McIvERNAN. Very much so. 



Mr. Oliver. So that this decision could in no way be considered 

 to be a punitive move against personnel on board that vessel ? 



Mr. McKernan. Absolutely not. This is no reflection on the excel- 

 lent crew. The present crew of the Albatross is perhaps the best we 

 have ever had and the present master is an excellent skipper. 



Mr. Oliver. I have one other question, Mr. Chairman. 



As a basic philosophy, I am wondering whether or not in this deci- 

 sion there has been consideration given to moves which have been 

 made in other fields of Government operation to turn over to private 

 industry operations which previously have been carried out through 

 the Government agencies themselves. 



Mr. McKernan. This was not a consideration. 



Mr. Oliver. In other words, it is your position that private indus- 

 try or private enterprise, for example, is not being favored at the 

 sacrifice of efficient personnel and efficient operation taking into con- 

 sideration only the fact that you call this an inefficient vessel ? 



Mr. McKernan. That is my position and I would go further and 

 say that private fishing vessels can in no way replace an efficient 

 oceanographic Government operated research boat. 



Mr. Oliver. I gather from what you say the impression that you 

 feel that you are going to use a more inefficient operation under pri- 

 vate charter in trying to do a job that you feel that the inefficient 

 J.^^az^T'oss is not able to do. 



Mr. McKernan. I am not sure I followed that but if I get the 

 question correctly, it is our decision that with the funds we have al- 

 lotted we can do a more efficient operation in carrying out our objec- 

 tives of research and oceanography in New England with the plan 

 that we have adopted. 



Mr. Oliver. That is all I have, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Miller. Mr. Counsel, do you have questions ? 



Mr. Drewry. Mr. McKernan, going back to this question of ineffi- 

 ciency of the Albatross, was she inefficient from the very beginning? 



Mr. McKernan. Yes, the Albatross was never considered to be a 

 good boat. 



Mr. Drewry. She was never considered to be a good boat ? 



Mr. McKernan. Never considered to be a good research boat. 



Mr. Drewry. Do you know why the decision was made to use her as 

 a research boat ? 



Mr. McKernan. Well, she was the best that was available to us 

 and we got her for a dollar and the costs of reconversion were some- 

 where in the neighborhood of $150,000 or so to begin with, and I 

 expect we probably have a half million dollars in actual conversion 

 in her. I am guessing at that, by the way. 



