European Ocean Research Fleets - uefiscdi

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© Ifremer
Calypso Long Corer on RV Marion Dufresne
A2.4.3. Annual programming
The agencies from different European countries have
different planning horizons. Some countries plan in
detail two or even three years ahead whereas others
need only one year. This makes it diffi cult to commit
facilities for pooled use when domestic requirements
have not yet been fully established. Some progress
was made recently when it was agreed to accept the
calendar year (January to December) as the yearly unit
programme duration. Operators now need to extend
this timescale to two year programmes in order
to provide an opportunity to plan equipment exchanges.
Data utilisation for each instrument also has
to be produced and made more widely available in order
to identify potential spare capacity. The European
Research Vessel Operators group (ERVO (6) ) would be
an appropriate forum to develop this topic further.
A2.4.4. Cooperation outside Europe
European fleet managers work closely with non-European
partners such as Australia, Canada, China, India,
Japan, New Zealand, the United States of America and
others through the International Research Ship Operator
Meeting (ISOM (7) ) group that has existed for almost
20 years. This cooperation shows that some institutions
outside Europe own and operate instruments and
equipment which can be used and may be needed by
European institutions as well.
6 ERVO: Marine Board-ESF Working Group since 1999
7 ISOM: www.isom-info.org
An example of interoperability: ROV Victor 6000 on board
RV Polarstern
Bilateral agreements between European and
non-European institutions regarding large and exchangeable
instruments already exist; such cooperative
arrangements are likely to be increased in
the future.
A2.4.5. Insurance
European governments have different approaches regarding
the insurance of equipment. Some owners get
regular insurances on all types of equipment. Therefore
users have to pay only for the insurance of the related
equipment to facilitate a lend or a lease. Other
owners are not allowed to insure their equipment with
a private insurance company and must therefore pay
for the replacement of lost equipment (out of their ordinary
budgets) or ask for an extra grant from the owner
of the institute. In these cases, the willingness to lend
or lease expensive instruments to others is often, not
surprisingly, very limited.
A common policy for the insurance of large and
exchangeable instruments across Europe would
therefore be most welcome.
A2.4.6. Transport costs and customs duties
Moving large instruments over national territories is
also a very complex, time-consuming and costly operation.
Joint ownership and common use of instruments
should therefore be encouraged between countries
where the cost for transportation appears reasonable.
Another challenge concerns customs duties and the
Value Added Tax (VAT) issues when equipment cross-
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