Scientists wishing to obtain the use of a coastal vessel of the French Oceanographic Fleet must reply to the annual, national call for proposals. Scientists wishing to access one of the ships of an OFEG member country which has an agreement with IFREMER may also reply to this call for proposals via the cruise management system SGC (https://sgc.flotteoceanographique.fr/).
1 year before the cruise.
The National Committee for the Coastal Fleet (CNFC) examines all the cruise requests.
The CNFC assess and ranks the cruise requests according to their degree of scientific interest.
The CNFC comprises eighteen assessors who cover most of the scientific fields.
The CNFC summarizes the assessments made by outside experts and by a member of the CNFC.
1 year before the cruise.
The management of the oceanographic fleet (DFO) establishes the schedule of its ships and heavy equipment. It releases, with the approval of the executive committee, the programme on December of the year preceding the cruises (year N-1). This programme takes into consideration the CNFC’s rankings and other parameters, such as:
- Availability of the equipment, the ships and the technicians needed for its deployment.
- Budgetary, technical and logistical imperatives.
- Calendar imperatives expressed by mission leaders.
- Optimization of transit times between two cruises.
- Safety aspects.
- Interactions with the deep-sea fleet.
before the cruise.
In accordance with the protocol in force, once the cruise has been accepted the mission leader must acquaint themselves with various rules and inform all the members of the scientific team who will be embarking of these rules.
These rules concern:
- Medical aptitude to embark.
- The required physical aptitude for diving in a submersible.
- Safety regulations (equipment, chemical products, radioelements, protection, etc.).
- Rights and obligations in matters of archiving and distributing data acquired aboard the ships.
- Rules for communication and image rights.
- Mission leader’s expected role aboard ship.
- Control of noise-related risks for marine mammals.
- Help with the dispatch of equipment and containers to IFREMER mission leaders.
- APA Rules.
The year of the cruise.
The mission leader must submit in writing to the French Oceanographic Fleet one or several requests for authorization to undertake works in foreign waters at least eight months before the start of the cruise.
The management of the oceanographic fleet sends the request to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEAE) for submission to the competent authorities of the country or countries concerned.
At least 8 month before the start of the cruise.
Forms for working in foreign waters are available: Request to undertake works in the waters of other countries
- Mission leader drafts the preparation dossier and submits it to the French Oceanographic Fleet two months before the start of the cruise and depending on the complexity of the cruises.
- Technical manager (Genavir) organizes a meeting to prepare the cruise and drafts the subsequent report. Convened to the meeting are the mission leader and their colleagues.
- Transmission to DFO_campagnes@flotteoceanographique.fr the "lettre d'engagement", of the mission leader. In case of missing, 2 month before the mission, the mission could be canceled.
At least 2 months before the start of the cruise:
2 weeks before: requests a shipping report from the French Navy
Once the cruise has been achieved, the mission leader files a Cruise report (English version ).
It includes the following sections:
- End of Cruise Evaluation Sheet (FEFC) signed by the captain prior to disembarkation.
- Cruise summary report (CSR) for the SISMER, to be filled in via the cruise management system SGC (https://sgc.flotteoceanographique.fr/).
- End of Cruise Information Sheet.
- International Relations – Contractual Relations Sheet.
- Confidential Report to institutional operators, if necessary.
- Confidential Report for technical managers, if necessary.
- Equipment Loss Report.
- Survey on the use of cruise results.
- Preliminary cruise report (PCR), to be filled in via the SGC (https://sgc.flotteoceanographique.fr/).
Note that the End of Cruise Evaluation Sheet must also be signed by the captain at the end of the cruise.
At the end of the cruise and in the case of works in international exclusive economic zones (EEZ), international rules (see the United Nations guideline (The law of the sea) – Marine Scientific Research, article 249, page 63) require the following:
- Submit promptly a preliminary cruise report (see PCR above). The report is sent to the DFO which forwards it to the authorities of the EEZ concerned via diplomatic channels (MEAE).
- Next the final results and conclusions of the scientific works resulting from the cruise are submitted in a suitable format to the DFO which forwards them to the authorities of the EEZ concerned via official diplomatic channels (MEAE). In the case of special requests in the document authorizing the works, there may also be requests for samples, data and even for assistance in processing and interpreting such data.
These submissions are obligatory and important because they are a condition for obtaining authorizations for works in the same EEZs in the future.
Before leaving the vessel
The submission of an scientific reporting cof the cruise is necessary to justify the quality of the science operated.
This report must be submitted no later than 4 years after the cruise.
Special case of teaching missions whose report is to be submitted 1 year after the cruise.
In accordance with the cruise report dossier, drafting and submission of the use of cruise results form, via the SGC.
Cruise management system, SGC: https://sgc.flotteoceanographique.fr/
An extranet account is required and could be ask to : sgc@flotteoceanographique.fr.
Instruction manual : https://sgc.flotteoceanographique.fr/html/help/fiches-valorisation.pdf
For any questions related to inputting into SGC, please contact us at: sgc@flotteoceanographique.fr
1-4 years after