GEOMAR  Centre  Research Infrastructure  Seagoing Infrastructure  Research Vessels  Application and embarkation modalities

Application and embarkation modalities

ALKOR, POSEIDON, LITTORINA and POLARFUCHS alongside GEOMAR, Westshore

Guidelines and General information

Application for Shiptime

  • At GEOMAR you can only apply for ship time of RV "ALKOR" if it is a short-cruise for equipment test (1-3 days).
    Please include in the application a description of the euqipment-test you plan to conduct and provide a detailed working plan.
    A short report has to be submitted after the cruise. Please send the report to forschungsschiffe(at)geomar.de.

    Please use the Word-Document for short cruises(1-3 days) 
    Submission date for cruises in the following year is 31st January (e.g.: Alkor-shortcruises for 2021 must submitted by 31st January 2020.)

  • Ship timeon RV "LITTORINA" can be applied for at GEOMAR via a Word-Document for application of ship time of RV "LITTORINA.

    • For day trips, up to 12 people can participate.

    • For multi-day trips, up to 6 people can participate and stay overnight.

    • The application for shiptime must be submitted directly to the GEOMAR Ship Coordination via E-mail.

    • Application shiptime LITTORINA (Word-Document)
      Submission deadlines are provided in the cover letter for the ship time request, which is sent out in April and September.

  • The Marine Facilities Planning "MFP"  (https://geomar.marinefacilitiesplanning.com) is used by the GEOMAR ship coordination for detailed planning and coordination of the research cruises of ALKOR. The "MFP Scientist Portal" guides the scientist through the process of general organisation of the cruise: from the cruise application stage to the post-cruise reporting.

Documents for cruise planning and conduct

  • Please send the boarding document "Einschiffungsmappe" at least 14 days before departure to the ship and GEOMAR-shipcoordiation.
    The information is needed for port logistics and for official announcements to all relevant authorities.
    Please note that missing or faulty information might cause delays or trouble with authorities.

  • This file serves as a template for entering waypoints and navigation data that can be transferred into an ECDIS system during ALKOR cruises.

  • At the end of a multi-day cruise, a final discussion between the ship's command and the chief scientist about the progress and success of the cruise is documented.

     

  • Depending on the length and type of the research cruise, various reports must be prepared to document the work carried out on board and the knowledge gained from it. The ship's command must ensure that the reporting is completed on time.
    The ship's coordinator at GEOMAR must be notified when reports and data or raw data are sent to relevant addresses.
    When sending the reports, reference should also be made to other websites where additional information can be accessed.

    • Weekly Reports
      Only for multi-day cruises: The weekly report documents the work carried out on board during the previous week. (Monday-Sunday).The report must be sent to the ship's coordinator on the following Monday. No special form template is required.

    • Cruise Summary Report 
      Create and submit directly after the cruise the "CSR" to the Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie online via BSH-Login / Offline CSR Offline Editor.
      As exemption a Word-file may be submitted to dod(at)bsh.de : CSR_Beispiel-Formular.doc ; CSR-Formular.doc ; CSR_Codes.xls.

    • Report after Short-Cruise / Equipment-test
      Four weeks after a Short-Cruise with ALKOR a short report (one Din-A4 page) about the progress and the success or failure of the equipment-test must be sent to the GEOMAR ship's coordination forschungsschiffe(at)geomar.de. No special form template is required.

    • Scientific Cruise Report
      The work carried out during the cruise, as well as the samples and data obtained, are recorded in detail. It also serves as official proof for the funding. The report must be sumbitted two months after the completion of the cruise. Find details on Portal deutsche Forschungsschiffe: Berichte und Daten.
      Cruise Report - template

Further helpful documents

  • We would like to point out to all cruise leaders that there is full accident insurance cover on research cruises with “ALKOR” and “LITTORINA”.
    Further information on accident and international health insurance for cruise participants can be found in the relevant leaflets below:

  • GEOMAR employees can find further assistance for planning and organising research cruises as GEOMAR-Cruiseleader on the intranet.

    Cruise Leader - GEOMAR Intranet