Update on U.S. ARF Cruise Delays and Cancellations

Dear Sea-Going Scientists,

You may know of or perhaps have already been impacted by delays or cancellations to your NSF cruises scheduled on U.S. Academic Research Fleet (ARF) vessels this year. Please be assured that NSF is fully engaged with the ship operators, the UNOLS Office, and the Office of Naval Research to understand this important issue’s many aspects. As a result, we remain optimistic that a course change is possible in the near-term.  

Briefly, ship operators have been working under serious COVID mitigation protocols for the past two years; protocols that were constantly adapted from real-life experiences and changes in the Centers for Disease Control guidance that are credited for keeping science parties and crews safe while successfully accomplishing our high priority science. Although we are not yet in the clear regarding COVID, we have learned how to return to pre-COVID operational tempos with nearly 3500 sea-going days scheduled across the Fleet this year. In comparison, in 2020, the ARF completed less than half that amount, so this is an extraordinary shift while operating in the “new normal.” However, at the same time, our ARF ship operators are now faced with the aftermath of working in a “post” COVID economy, namely the challenge of dealing with crewing and shore support attrition, which mirrors much of what has occurred in other U.S. labor markets. This labor problem stems from a variety of factors, including a historic decline in the population of mariners working in the industry, higher than projected retirements accelerated by fatigue from COVID mitigation requirements, extreme competition for the smaller pool of mariners from sectors of the industry that are experiencing a boom cycle, and Jones Act requirements (which mandates the requirement for U.S. licenses for certain positions on our ships). 

As a little more background, our Global and Ocean Class vessels operate under USCG 46 CFR subchapter U with a Certificate of Inspection (COI), which mandates licensed crewing regulations among many other safety provisions since all ships in the ARF are U.S. Flagged. This COI becomes the governing mechanism the USCG uses to issue what is known as CG-835s or “no-sails,” which prevents a ship from getting underway.  We have recently had several no-sails across the Fleet due to a shortage of licensed crew and attempts to fill these positions quickly have been difficult in the current labor market.   

Last September, the NSF Ship Operations Program Director asked UNOLS to form a Tiger Team focused on the crewing issue with a goal of identifying workable recommendations to address this challenge immediately.  These recommendations include adding tools to alleviate the current situation in the short term, as well as looking at the long-term goals and benchmarks. A potential near-term action is adding a designated Crewing Coordinator position within the UNOLS Office to help coordinate a recruiting effort across the nation for qualified mariners. We recognize that salary parity is a critical element in recruiting and is vital for crew retention and training. It may also be necessary to allocate a berth on our ships to support sailing potential crew candidates, such as those coming out of maritime academies, to demonstrate the opportunities and the value of a rewarding career supporting U.S. science.    

If you have questions or would like to provide feedback, please feel free to contact the UNOLS Office, the OCE Ship Operations Program Directors, or your OCE Science Program Managers.  

Sincerely,

Terry Quinn
Division Director, OCE