88 EFFECTIVENESS OF THE COMMITTEE ON OCEANOGRAPHY 



Mr. Dingell. So ordered. 



(The information referred to follows:) 



U.S. Coast Guard, 



November 13, 1961. 

 From: Rear Adm. Donald McG. Morrison, U.S. Coast Guard, member. 

 To: Chairman, Interagency Committee on Oceanography. 

 Subject: Contracting procedures for ship construction. 

 Reference: (a) Chairman, Ship's Panel ltr 2, October 1961, same subject. 



1. Commander Anastasion has asked for comments on the recommendations 

 set forth in reference (a). 



2. These recommendations have been reviewed by Coast Guard staff officers 

 and the following comments are made. 



(a) The recommendation concerning review of contract designs and procedures 

 for Government-funded oceanographic vessels is concurred with. It is pointed 

 out that compliance with applicable Federal laws and Coast Guard regulations 

 require that vessel plans and specifications be submitted to the Coast Guard for 

 approval. It is for this reason that the Coast Guard does not wish to become 

 involved with the preparation of vessel designs other than for Coast Guard 

 vessels. It further should be pointed out that certain of the vessels coming 

 under the applicability of this recommendation will be destined as public vessels 

 which are not subject to Coast Guard inspection regulations. The Coast Guard 

 is willing to make available its inspection facilities to public vessels at the request 

 of the agency concerned. This presently is being done in the case of the Navy's 

 MSTS and certain AGOR vessels. The Coast Guard holds that privately oper- 

 ated vessels whether federally funded or not are subject to the inspection laws. 



(6) The Coast Guard concurs strongly with the recommendation that Govern- 

 ment-funded oceanographic vessels be constructed or converted in U.S. shipyards. 



(c) Recommendation (c) requests the Coast Guard and American Bureau of 

 Shipping to investigate the feasibility of establishing an oceanographic ship 

 category. The Coast Guard feels that such an investigation would be useful, 

 and in fact has already made considerable progress in this direction. Instructions 

 have been issued to our marine inspection offices indicating how the present regu- 

 lations should be applied to this special category of vessels. Should it develop 

 that further modification is justified without detracting from the basic safety of 

 the operation, these instructions can be modified or special legislation can be 

 sought to provide authority for departure from normal requirements to the 

 extent justified by this special type of operation. 



D. McG. Morrison. 



Department of the Navy, 

 Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 



Washington, D.C., October 2, 1961. 

 From: Chairman, Ships Panel. 



To: Chairman, Interagency Committee on Oceanography. 



Subject: Background information on agency procedures for contracting for ship 

 construction. 



1. In accordance with a request of Commander Anastasion, a series of Ships 

 Panel meetings were held to obtain background information on how Government 

 agencies design, contract for, build, inspect, and accept oceanographic ships. 



2. A brief summary of the various agency procedures is submitted below: 



(a) Navy (Bureau of Ships) : The Bureau of Ships has an experienced and 

 effective organization established to process shipbuilding procurements. The 

 ship characteristics are prepared jointly by the Ship Characteristics Board within 

 the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and the user laboratory. Upon 

 approval of the characteristics by the Ship Characteristics Board, preliminary 

 and contract designs are prepared by engineers in the Bureau of Ships. A very 

 small percentage are prepared under contract by private design agents. When 

 funds are appropriated to build a certain class ship, proposals are solicited from 

 qualified bidders. The Bureau maintains lists of qualified bidders which are 

 based upon capability data submitted to the Bureau yearly by interested ship- 

 yards throughout the country. The Bureau notifies each shipbuilder as to the 

 type ships for which invitations will be extended during the ensuing year. Periods 

 of 45 to 90 days are allowed for preparation of bid proposals. Awards to other 

 than the low bidder are the exception and must be thoroughly justified in accord- 



