Jim St JohnScience and Technology Corporation

Polar Technology Office

My BackgroundNaval architect specializing in ice-going shipsInvolved in RVIB and ASRV procurements for

NSF from the start and PRV developmentInvolved in the design, spec development,

and procurement support of Juniper Class & Keeper Class buoy tenders, USCGC Healy, and USCGC Mackinaw

Involved in various oil development projects supporting ship design, spec development, and procurement support

Ship Acquisition is a Political ProcessIn order to sell the program you need to:

Establish the NeedKnow the Cost – Ships and the infrastructure

to support them are expensiveThe need is typically identified at the

operational levelresearchers using the shipmanagers of current science operations

Senior management buy-in at every level is needed to be successful

Ship Acquisition ProcessTypically a new ship is sought. It involves:

DesignersA shipyardAnd, if a charter, owners and operators.

Procurement evaluation involves:ManagementTechnicalScienceCost

CommentsObtaining a good product at a fair price

requires competition and good planning.Procurements are expensive to bid – fund some

of the ship design up frontProvide a longer charter

Both of these ideas lower cost and stimulate more competition.

Fund some of the ship design up frontDevelop the design beyond a specificationDevelop drawings and get science community inputWhen the design is developed, conduct model tests

to ensure that the design will meet the major performance criteria

This approach better ensures the scientists get what they want and reduces the risk that the ship won’t meet the desired performance goals.

This approach is not a contract design package and therefore still allows the bidder room to innovate. However, it reduces the risk of not meeting the performance criteria by giving him a good baseline. We believe this is potentially a least cost solution.

Provide a longer charterMake the charter the expected life of the ship,

typically 25 year design life.This should lower the annual charter cost because

the ship construction cost can be amortized over a longer time frame.

Shorter charter periods that have to be competed again over the life of the ship generate little competition because of the cost to compete and the difficulty competing with an incumbent.

Shorter charter periods can result in higher rates if the incumbent determines there is no serious competition.

Questions?