Commercial bookings

To book the R/V Skagerak, you must first create an account in Marine Facilities Planning (MFP), the system used for all bookings. Remember to select the University of Gothenburg as your host organisation.

Marine Facilities Planning

Once your account has been approved, you must log in to MFP and complete the Cruise Application Form with as much detail on your voyage as possible, 

Once you have submitted your booking application, it will be received by the team at R/V Skagerak. We will check if the equipment requested is available on board R/V Skagerak or within other parts of the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Gothenburg. 

In the next step, the Skagerak team will develop a draft budget for your cruise, based on the information you have provided in your booking application. Please note that this is a preliminary budget, but it will give you a general idea of the main costs involved in the project.  

You will be asked to review the draft budget and confirm that you have enough funding to cover the outlined costs, including the costs that cannot be precisely determined prior to the cruise. For example fuel and port fees. 

Once funding is confirmed, the Skagerak team will approve the logistics planning for your cruise or come back with proposed modifications. 

In this last step the Skagerak team will move your application into the official vessel schedule. 

The schedule for R/V Skagerak in Teamup

We cannot predict the cost of fuel for your cruise. However, estimates can be made. The distance to be covered during your cruise is estimated by the MFP Cruise Application portal and you can use this to estimate your fuel use. The final fuel cost will depend on many factors, including weather, ship speed, international port bunkering rates etc.

Check estimates on consumption in MFP and ask the Skagerak team for price of last bunkering.

Where meals are not included in berth cost (Tiers 1 and 2 above)

Breakfast

• 45 SEK for students
• 65 SEK for teachers/researchers

Lunch

• 65 SEK for students
• 95 SEK for teachers/researchers

These are all costs associated with the ship docking in an international port.

Depending on the equipment required, there may be a cost associated with you using it. You will be notified by the Skagerak Team in your proposal.

You may require modifications to the ship in preparation for some of your voyage. Any modifications to Skagerak or Skagerak equipment will be at cost to the user.

The Skagerak Team will provide you with one day for mobilisation (i.e. on-board, in-port preparation), free of charge. This day will, where possible, be the day prior to your voyage departure, however it may not be. You will be expected to bring all your equipment onboard during your mob day. Note that:

• Allocated mob days may be on a weekend.
• No meals will be provided during mob day unless requested several weeks in advance.
• You must notify us if you require the forklift or crane.
• You must notify us if you require mobilization from a port other than homeport.
• You must organize transport of any equipment to Nya Varvet in preparation for your mob day, this is not the responsibility of the Skagerak Team.
• If you require more mob days than what we allocate, you will need to include these additional days in your booking and pay the base day rate (or subsidised base day rate) for them. You must notify the Skagerak Team (not the crew) if some of your booked days are to be used for mobilization.
• If you need the ship to leave home port during your allocated mob day, you will be charged for all fuel.
• Any modifications to Skagerak that are required to use your specific equipment (e.g., electrical cabling), will be at cost to you and must be coordinated with through the Skagerak Office (not crew) well in advance of your voyage departure. If this work cannot be completed during your scheduled mobilisation day, you will need to book a ship day for it.

• In alignment with international standards, one weather day is added in-kind for every ten days booked. So, if you book 30 days, you will have 33 days available to you.
• For bookings less than ten days (or instances where the in-kind weather days are not enough) once your voyage has started you will need to pay for all days booked, even those where the ship is in port due to weather. If more than 20 percent of the voyage is cancelled due to weather, we will discuss on a case-by-case basis how to manage the costs.
• If your voyage is cancelled due to weather before commencement of the voyage, you will not be charged any ship time, however you will be charged for any additional costs that were incurred for the planning of your voyage (e.g., extra crew hired, mobilisation costs, scientific consumables).
• Changes to your booking (ie changes to voyage plan, number of days etc) can be made until 60 days prior to voyage. Any changes after this date may incur a cost, including being charged for days no longer booked.
• No costs will be charged to the user if the voyage is shortened or cancelled due to a technical issue on Skagerak. Our preference is to rebook any days cancelled due to technical problems.

When calculating how many days you need, you must include the days required to transit from homeport to your study site. The MFP software will help with this but note that these transit days are costed at the same day rate as your sampling days.

Skagerak has advanced equipment and a complicated on board IT network that supports it. It requires an on board technician to ensure that these work as required during your voyage. Where possible, a ship technician from the University of Gothenburg will be on board each voyage.

The number of berths that will be available for your voyage will depend on your operations because your operations determine how many crew members are required (either due to Swedish regulations or safety requirements).

The crew must, by law, have their own cabin. There are only five single cabins onboard, so for every additional crew member beyond that, we lose two berths. Additionally, a technician will always be on board (unless otherwise notified). 

You will be provided with one demobilisation day for the removal of all of your scientific equipment, samples, personal belongings and cabin cleaning. Please note:

• Demobilisation of ALL equipment should be done on the allocated day, regardless of whether the ship has a user on the following day or not. Please plan ahead of time to ensure this happens.
• Your demobilisation day may be a weekend.
• If there is a reason why all of your equipment cannot be removed on your demobilisation day, please contact the Skagerak Office, not the crew.
• No meals will be provided during demob day unless requested several weeks in advance.
• If you require more than one day you must notify the Skagerak Team (not the crew). You will be charged for any additional days.
• If you need the ship to leave home port during your allocated demob day, you will be charged for all fuel.
• All used cabins must be cleaned by the ship users, following the cleaning policy provided onboard. It is the responsibility of the Chief Scientist to check each cabin prior to final departure. If cleaning is not done appropriately, a cleaning fee will be charged.
• All laboratories and other spaces used during your voyages must be left clean and tidy.

The Skagerak team is here to help with your planning, should you have any questions.

Our crew and technical team are also very capable and happy to provide you with advice. However, any decisions that impact operations (and therefore potentially personnel or budget) must be discussed with the Skagerak Office irrespective of whether it is first discussed with the crew.

Where possible, we will organise a pre-voyage meeting with a Captain approximately two weeks prior to departure of your voyage (virtual or in-person). It is important that they have received the detailed voyage plans well before this meeting so they can discuss any questions they might have. If possible, the meeting will be with the captain that will lead your voyage, but this may not always be possible.