What we do

Two principles govern the scientific community’s access to the ships and associated equipment managed by the French Oceanographic Fleet.

The first principle involves the systematic assessment of each request for a research cruise at sea in terms of scientific excellence. Each request is subject to an a priori assessment by scientific assessors convened within an independent national commission.

The second principle is a scheduling decision by the fleet’s executive committee which, as far as possible, results in the national equipment being placed at the disposal of the requester for free. In some cases the owner of the ship may require some financial contribution to cover the cost of the cruise.