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National Research Vessel Task Team / Groupe de travail national sur les navires de recherche

This MEOPAR task team will collate and examine needs and opportunities across the country and provide advice on ways forward.

The availability of research vessels is critical for the ability of Canadian scientists, across all disciplines, to explore and monitor, observe and understand our country’s marine environment and vast ocean spaces. This capacity has been diminishing for decades despite a growing need for scientific information about our ocean environment.

MEOPAR, as a Network of Centres of Excellence which funds research, trains students, mobilizes knowledge and communicates results in the area of marine risk and resilience all across Canada, is very conscious of this problem. MEOPAR does not own or operate vessels of its own. We believe this allows the Network to take an objective view on what has now become a crisis for Canada’s ability to research, explore and monitor our vast ocean spaces. MEOPAR recently supported a multisectoral Task Team to examine the vessel situation for Atlantic Canada’s offshore environment. Based on this report, we concluded that a national, multisectoral dialogue is required to address this issue across the country. Such a discussion, motivated by the present very difficult situation, may uncover new opportunities for the provision of research vessel capacity that are efficient and cost-effective.

We have established the National Research Vessel Task Team (NRVTT) / Groupe de travail national sur les navires de recherche (GTNNR) to collate and examine needs and opportunities across the country and provide advice on ways forward. We intend this to be a national dialogue where interests, needs and capacities of different disciplines and sectors (industry, government, funding agencies and academia), and different parts of the country, can be considered together, and where new ways of providing and supporting this important research capacity can be discussed and evaluated.

For more information, please see below or feel free to contact the co-chairs of the National Research Vessel Task Team, Doug Wallace (douglas.wallace@dal.ca), Doug Bancroft (bancroft@ropos.com) and Heather Reader (hreader@mun.ca)

Join the NRVTT

MEOPAR hosted a workshop in April 2024 to examine the present and future access to ship time for Canadian researchers. 

April '24 Workshop Report

The NRVTT’s co-chairs have created a User Demand Survey to better understand the needs of the Canadian research community. If you can contribute, please take this short survey.

Take the survey
Jan 21, 2022

Statement from National Research Vessel Task Team’s co-chairs on the CCGS Hudson’s retirement and the state of research vessel access for Canadian ocean researchers

Read the Statement

NRVTT Meeting Proceedings

Opportunities

MEOPAR Ship Time Fund

The need for this program was identified, in part, by the work of the NRVTT, which conducted a survey showing that of 50+ marine researcher respondents, 86% did not have sufficient access to research vessels, and only 30% had a recent opportunity to propose and lead a research expedition as Chief Scientist. To address this need, the Ship Time Fund has been established to provide opportunities for rapid response to sudden events, strategic support for worthy operations, and the chance to dream for major expeditions.

Tender Notice: Request for Supply Arrangement for Charter Vessels

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is calling for submissions to an open inventory of qualified vessels that can advance ocean sciences. This is applicable to groups that own or operate a commercial vessel and have an interest to work on scientific missions.

The purpose of this requirement is to establish a list of pre-qualified vessels and vessel charters capable of performing at-sea projects/missions as they relate to different ocean science operations (e.g. oceanography, marine mammal studies, hydrography, etc.) and fisheries science (e.g., stock assessment, biodiversity, habitat management, etc.). The projects/missions at-sea will vary in requirements as they relate to different ocean and fishery operations. The requirements for vessel and vessel charters will also vary depending on the location of the projects/mission (s) (e.g. Atlantic, Pacific, Central, and Arctic regions) including both near-shore and offshore missions within Canadian waters as the need arises.

  • Deadline for submissions: December 31, 2029
  • For more information and registration visit this webpage.

National & International Links

Next Generation: European Research Vessels, Current Status and Foreseeable Evolution, published by the European Marine Board