During August 1971, the Department of Com- 
merce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin- 
istration established a Manned Undersea Science and 
Technology (MUS&T) program to: “Develop, pro- 
mote, coordinate and support a national civilian-op- 
erational capability for man to work under the sea 
to achieve better understanding, assessment, and use 
of the marine environment and its resources.” Dur- 
ing FY 1972, the MUS&T program used eight sub- 
mersibles and two habitats to support over 130 in- 
vestigators from academia, industry, and Federal 
agencies. During FY 1973, approximately 70 unso- 
licited proposals,’ which would cost approximately 
$4.0 million for undersea facility and related support, 
were received. Invitations to use undersea platforms 
or a solicitation would substantially increase the pro- 
posal flow. Studies by the University of New Hamp- 
shire and the National Academies of Sciences and 
Engineering (section III) also show a broad base of 
potential users. There has also been considerable 
interagency cooperation and interest in many 
MUS&T-sponsored projects. 
In order to review the requirements for programs 
which may involve manned undersea activities, the 
12 member agencies of ICMSE were surveyed. The 
findings of that survey are summarized below. 
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 
Ten ICMSE member agencies reported programs; 
33 programs were of a civil nature and 13 were from 
the Navy. In general, the survey indicated a current 
need for the platforms, increasing future needs, and 
problems in matching users, platforms, and funds. 
Of the 36 U.S. submersibles surveyed as of Oc- 
tober 1972, there are only 13 civilian-operated plat- 
forms without diver lockout’ capability and three 
with lockout capability which were considered part 
of the usable civil inventory. Relative to the extent 
of utilization of the usable civilian undersea plat- 
forms as of October 1972 (prior to the study), the 
following estimates were made: 
Percent 
Submersibles without lockout .......... 40 
Submersibles with lockout ..........000. 67 
Habitats: cidediesceaceckswssede eesvavsevevvevceesssee Si 
Based on the potential uses of the usable civilian 
platforms as extrapolated from current and planned 
programs of the Federal agencies, the use of cur- 
? As of October 20, 1972. 
2 Lockout is a term used to describe being able to in- 
ternally pressurize a submersible’s compartment (sep- 
arately from the operator's compartment) to a level 
equal to external pressure so that divers could egress 
into the water (within diver depth limitations). 
rent platforms in FY 1974-75 (as estimated in the 
summer of 1972) could, if adequately funded, be 
raised to the levels estimated below: 
Percent 
Submersibles without lockout ........ 86 
Submersibles with lockout .............. 167 
habitats eseectrt cree sneee tes tastarecedsare 81 
An independent survey by the University of New 
Hampshire in late FY 1972 of platform require- 
ments of the U.S. scientific diving community also 
has an impact on the extent of platform utilization 
by Federal agencies. Taking this into account, 
full utilization of the usable submersibles without 
lockout would result and requirements for utilization 
of present habitats would be exceeded. In addition, 
there would be needs for additional submersibles 
with lockout capability. Another requirement which 
emerged in the Federal survey (and also in the 
University of New Hampshire study) was the need 
for scuba support ships * and interest in the use of 
a mobile (self-propelled in its deployed area) habitat. 
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 
Assimilation and analysis of the information from 
Federal agencies with civil programs generally in- 
dicate a substantial body of potential users in addi- 
tion to the current users. However, the current lack 
of use of available platforms can be attributed to a 
combination of reasons including: Short-duration 
needs for the platforms; their excessive cost due to 
mobilization and demobilization requirements if used 
on a project-by-project basis; and the need for a 
broader appreciation of the capabilities of this tech- 
nology in some agencies. Therefore, a mechanism is 
needed to: 
—cCoordinate the use of national undersea plat- 
forms (present and future) to realize eco- 
nomics of operations and applications and pro- 
vide continuity of support. 
—Identify the need for these platforms and pro- 
vide support for improvements in platforms as 
required in support of projects. 
—Assist Federal agencies in planning the use of 
platforms and gaining access to platforms. 
—Provide for replacement of platforms and new 
technological capabilities when needed for pro- 
grams. 
*A scuba support ship is used to transport and sup- 
port scuba divers diving for relatively short periods of 
time to depths currently limited to less than approxi- 
mately 200 feet. 
