The Design and Operation of Government Funded Research Vessels in the United Kingdom for Use in the Marine Sciences and Fisheries Research

Government funded vessels for use in the marine sciences and fisheries research have been a feature of the United Kingdom's marine science programmes for well over a century. During the 1960's a number of new vessels were planned and built and in recent years successors to these ships have become needed. In the meantime, however, the financial climate in which marine science operates has become more rigorous and there is a need to achieve higher scientific productivity and greater cost effectiveness. Major developments have also occurred in ships design, operation and in equipment handling systems. These improvements have arisen from the increasing demands of science, advances in scientific equipment and from the needs of the off-shore hydrocarbon industry. Such factors have repercussions on the planning of both the design and operation of future and existing ships. A recent exercise has looked at the present position in some detail and this paper summarises its general findings.