Vessel and Crew to Support the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Maritimes Region, Ocean Monitoring Program – Fall 2017

TITLE

Vessel and Crew to Support the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Maritimes Region, Ocean Monitoring Programs – Fall 2017

CONTRACTING PERIOD

Upon contract award through to November 15, 2017

Project work will take place between September 2017 and November 15, 2017, and will consist of 52 working days (including 46 working days at sea to occur between two separate, consecutive ocean monitoring cruises).

OBJECTIVE

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is seeking availability of a capable non-Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) Oceanographic Research Vessel to conduct its Atlantic Zonal Offshore Monitoring Program (AZOMP) Fall 2017 ocean monitoring program and Atlantic Zonal Monitoring Program (AZMP) Fall 2017 ocean monitoring program as two separate, consecutive ocean monitoring cruises. Specifically, an Oceanographic Research Vessel is required for 52 days for the period of September 1, 2017 through to November 15, 2017, as per the following time requirements:

• Mobilization at Port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, CANADA – 2 days
• AZOMP Monitoring Survey in the Labrador Sea, from the coast of Labrador, CANADA, to the coast of GREENLAND and up to 400 nm offshore south of Halifax – 26 days at sea
• Mobilization/Demobilization at Halifax, Nova Scotia, CANADA – 2 days
• AZMP Monitoring Survey on the Scotian Shelf and Gulf of Maine, including Cabot Strait, located in the offshore of Nova Scotia, CANADA, including a science staff transfer via small boat in Sydney Harbour, Nova Scotia, CANADA – 20 days at sea
• Demobilization at Halifax, Nova Scotia, CANADA – 2 days

The AZOMP/AZMP Fall 2017 ocean monitoring programs need to be conducted during this time period to allow for comparability of data and results with previous annual surveys conducted at this time and location.

BACKGROUND

The Science Branch, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Maritimes Region, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, CANADA, requires the complete services of an Oceanographic Research Vessel charter (vessel and crew) to deliver its AZOMP/AZMP in the Fall of 2017, to operate within the offshore waters of Nova Scotia and Labrador Sea between the coasts of Canada and Greenland. The monitoring programs were implemented with the aim of increasing DFO’s capacity to understand, describe, and forecast the state of the marine ecosystem and to quantify the changes in the ocean’s physical, chemical, and biological properties.