The United States oceanographic research fleet --A perspective

The U.S. Oceanographic Research Fleet includes three sectors, the Federal, academic and commercial and comprises about 150 ships (over 25 meters LOA) about evenly divided between the three sectors. The estimated cost of this fleet in 1975 is about $86.0M of which $71M represents Federal ship support in total Federal marine oriented programs of $559M. Size of this fleet is static or undergoing reductions owing to increased operating costs or retirement without replacement. About 20% of the fleet is approaching obsolescence. Projections of future (5 year) ship needs for Federal programs indicate about a 20% increase over current levels. There presently are three replacement ships under construction for the academic sector but no other approved Federal shipbuilding plans. On a worldwide comparison of a total of about 730 research ships, the USSR operates about 194 and Japan 94.