parently being fulfilled. In 1977, NACOA observed, 
with regard to the academic fleet, that “Federal 
funds for mission-oriented research, largely within a 
few hundred miles of the U.S. Coast, have grown 
much more rapidly than those for more basic re- 
search on the high seas and in distant waters.” *° 
NACOA stated that this, and other trends, “have 
already caused an occasional surplus of available 
time on the larger research vessels and an increasing 
demand for the smaller vessels better suited for re- 
search in coastal waters.” °1 CNA, in 1974, also 
found underutilization of some ships, ascribed at 
that time to a lack of operating funds rather than a 
lack of requirements. 
As a result of the declining support for basic 
research on the high seas, there has recently been a 
“heavy use of academic ships by the Bureau of Land 
Management and other mission-oriented Federal 
agencies and their contractors.” *'* This type of 
activity, however, is generally of short duration and 
when the requirements for such work diminish, or 
new more specialized vessels are brought into service 
to accomplish mission agency objectives, the under- 
utilization of the larger ships will become more 
severe. Although a successor program to the Inter- 
national Decade of Ocean Exploration may generate 
limited, new demand for the larger research vessels, 
there is little indication of significantly higher re- 
quirements for their use in the 1980s. 
The relative strength of the United States ocean- 
ographic capability compared to other maritime na- 
tions such as the Soviet Union is another indicator 
of United States research capacity. U.S. superiority 
in terms of oceanographic vessels was overwhelming 
in the 1950s and early 1960s. By 1971, the United 
States had 39 research vessels of over 1,000 tons; 
the USSR had 70 such ships. Counting all Federal 
and non-Federal oceanographic vessels, including 
small coastal ships, the United States had 120 ships 
with a displacement of 180,000 tons and the Soviet 
Union had 200 with an aggregate displacement of 
320,000 tons in 1974. These comparisons, however, 
mean little in terms of research quality and adequacy 
to meet current requirements. U.S. ships spend more 
time at sea and are better equipped than those of 
the Soviet oceanographic fleet.?? 
A major problem in the maintenance of the fleet 
from 1974 to the present has been the rapid rise of 
operating costs. From 1975 to 1977, there was a net 
20U.S. National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmos- 
phere. Annual Report No. 6. Washington, D.C., Government 
Printing Office, 1977, p. 48. 
21 Ibid. 
21a Ibid, p. 46. 
22U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Commerce. Soviet 
Oceans Development. 94th Congress, 2d session, Washington, 
D.C., Government Printing Office, 1976, p. 546; See also Mark 
W. Janis and Donald C. F. Daniel, The U.S.S.R.: Ocean Use 
and Ocean Law. Law Sea Inst. Occasional Paper No. 21, 
Kingston, R.I., University of Rhode Island, 1974, p. 6. 
reduction of five ships, partly as a result of insuffi- 
cient increases in funds available to meet rapidly 
inflating operating costs. The shortage of operating 
funds was especially severe in 1976, but improved 
somewhat in 1977. 
Nonetheless, the age of the U.S. fleet (table 7-3) 
remains a matter of serious concern. Forty-four of 
the 71 ships—over 60 percent—are more than 10 
years old, and 16 of them are over 20 years old. 
The impact of the fall-off in the construction of new 
ships since the 1960s is illustrated by the fact that, 
of the 28 ships built in the last 10 years (11 of them 
in the academic fleet), only 5 (all academic vessels) 
are less than 5 years old. 
Maintaining the material condition of this fleet 
will, according to NACOA, require sizeable expen- 
ditures in the years ahead. For example, major re- 
fits of five university vessels, aged 12 to 15 years, are 
projected to cost $5 to 6 million over the next 5 
years. Upgrading the scientific capability of the fleet 
will require additional expenditures.?* 
University National Oceanographic 
Laboratory System 
In recommending the establishment of university 
national laboratovies, the Stratton Commission sug- 
gested that Federal guidelines for their operation 
include formal provisions for making the facilities 
of the laboratories available to outside investigators, 
and for exchanging advice and assistance with other 
institutions.* With this recommendation before it, 
and in recognition of the need for better use of 
existing ships and facilities in the face of rising costs, 
the National Science Foundation and the Navy en- 
couraged the formation of the University National 
Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) in 
1971 to foster the cooperative use of ships and 
facilities by marine science institutions. 
UNOLS’ membership consists of institutions and 
laboratories that operate or use Federally supported 
national facilities, including research vessels. The 
‘organization includes an advisory council made up 
of both operators and users to assure that effective 
use is made of Federally supported facilities and 
that scientists from all academic institutions have 
access to them. The advisory council also evaluates 
the need for new ships and facilities, and for the 
replacement of outmoded ones ‘and determines 
whether research resources exceed current needs. 
The Research Vessel Operator’s Council, consisting 
of marine engineering personnel from ship-operating 
institutions, works to exchange ship operating and 
technical information among members, and addresses 
questions of shipboard engineering, inspection, and 
safety. The UNOLS staff, located at Woods Hole 
23 NACOA, op.cit. note 20, p. 47. 
24 Our Nation and The Sea, op.cit. note 6, p Qile 
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