To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science was of operating the CEFAS vessel Endeavour in 2008-09; what estimate he has made of this cost in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11; how many days the vessel was at sea undertaking research in 2008-09; and what estimate has been made of the equivalent number of such days in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11. (302015)

The following table sets out details of the number of days at sea for the CEFAS Endeavour in support of CEFAS managed projects.

The days at sea figures shown do not take into consideration the time required for mobilisation and demobilisation of scientific equipment before and after each scientific campaign (approximately 40 days per annum). They also exclude the time associated with essential vessel maintenance (approximately 20 days per annum rising to 40 days per annum where scheduled dry docking is required).

Sea trips are increasingly planned to integrate a number of projects with objectives which can be achieved during the same campaign. This typically requires 24 hour operations, so maximising the scientific returns from a single day of sea time.

The annual cost of operating the CEFAS Endeavour include, vessel operations and management, technical support, capital charges, fuel and costs and allowances for CEFAS staff on board the vessel during scientific campaigns. The annual services agreement to operate and maintain the vessel was recently let via open competition with a six year contract signed in March 2009. The agreement is subject to terms of confidentiality, hence annual budgets are not included in this response.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many days the CEFAS vessel Endeavour was (a) made available by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science and (b) used by other organisations during 2008-09; and what estimate has been made of the number of such days in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11. (302016)

The CEFAS Endeavour is available 365 days per annum for the scheduling of sea trips. Schedule planning must allow time for non-sea going activities such as mobilisation, demobilisation and planned maintenance. These non-sea going activities require between approximately 60 and 80 days per year.

The CEFAS Endeavour programme in 2008-09 was 100 per cent. dedicated to CEFAS managed projects and no chartering of the vessel to other organisations took place. The committed programme for 2009-10 is also 100 per cent. dedicated to CEFAS managed projects with no chartering of the vessel to other organisations planned. The forecast programme for 2010-11 is based upon the same premise.

CEFAS managed projects are undertaken on behalf of a range of customers such as DEFRA, the Marine Environmental Protection Fund (MEPF), Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Natural England. In addition, on a project basis, visiting scientists, observers and organisations collaborating with CEFAS (for project delivery) will also be present on the vessel.