Do ship schedulers work together to make ideal schedules?
The 18 research institutions that operate 23 research vessels in the United States are in a system called the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System, or UNOLS. One of its primary functions is to ensure the efficient scheduling of scientific cruises. Each of these places has its own ship scheduler. There’s a sense of camaraderie. We work together to help each other make as efficient schedules as possible and to put the right ships with the needed capabilities in the right places at the right times. On the other hand, the competition between operators of the research vessels can be high, because if I don’t schedule research cruises, our ships are going to be laid up—not put out to sea. Then our people—the crew on the ships we operate—are going to be laid off. How often does the schedule change? On average, once or twice a month. But there could be days and sometimes weeks of deliberating before changes are implemented. It sounds like an enormous, shifting puzzle. How do you
