onboard the submersible for each dive. This was quickly dismissed, since only one
passenger is allowed in the submersible’s sphere along with the pilot and co-pilot.
However, we did agree to allow a Brazilian Navy officer on board the support ship,
Le Nadir, at all times. The Brazilians also requested that part of the data obtained
in their economic zone would be sent to the Brazilian Navy.
It took about a year to reach an agreement and to obtain all the proper
authorization. I recall that 2 months before our departure, we still hadn’t been
granted our authorization to dive in Brazilian waters. I had to add a clause in our
note of agreement to the authorities saying that if I did not receive the proper
authorization prior to the departure for our cruise, scheduled for December 1997,
I would change the program and we would pursue our dives outside the Brazilian
economic zone. Also, I told them that if I did not obtain satisfaction, there would
be no cooperation with any people from Brazilian Universities. This meant that
they would miss the opportunity of having fresh data from the region. This clause
was sent to the Brazilian Embassy in Paris via our IFREMER foreign relations
department (Direction de la Communication International, DRCI). Happily,
authorization for us to dive in Brazilian waters arrived soon afterwards.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for scientists to explore in the economic
zones of any country because of the legal aspects of any such scientific exploration. Sometimes, the administrations of some countries want to be given all the
data collected in their EZ (economic zone) and we often need to have hard discussions to convince them otherwise. It is frustrating when scientists no longer
have the freedom to pursue their research because they have to deal with
administrative constraints, which discourage us from working in any EZ. The day
when all the oceans have been divided up among all the countries that have
coastlines along the seas, it will be a nightmare for continued scientific exploration
and human progress.
In addition to the French institutions mentioned above (IFREMER and the
University of Brest), several other international institutes such as the University of
Kiel (Germany, P. Stoffers), the CNR and the University of Bologna (Italy, E
Bonatti), the Russian Academy of Science in Moscow in Russia (Gleb Udintsev)
and Susanna Sichel from the University of FUMENCIA (Itiroi, in Brazil) were all
involved in participating on the cruise and in studying the data obtained during our
St. Paul mission.
However, we had a more serious problem to resolve if we were to carry out our
objectives. We did not have any satisfactory map coverage for conducting a
submersible program. Our IFREMER draftsmen, Daniel Carré and Serge Monti,
had compiled the limited available bathymetric data at IFREMER in Brest by
using the international General Bathymetry Chart of the Oceans (GEPCO) and
some fragmented contour lines and sparse map data had been obtained from
colleagues who had participated on American, Russian and German expeditions
covering various portions of the St. Peter and Paul’s Rocks fracture zone. For
example the multichannel SeaBeam coverage of the western (near 1°N-29°W) and
the eastern (0°50
0 N and 25°35
0 W) parts near the Ridge Transform Intersection
Zones was carried out during both Russian (R.V. STRAKOV, Udintsev et al. 1990)
Historical Background of the Cruise
285
passenger is allowed in the submersible’s sphere along with the pilot and co-pilot.
However, we did agree to allow a Brazilian Navy officer on board the support ship,
Le Nadir, at all times. The Brazilians also requested that part of the data obtained
in their economic zone would be sent to the Brazilian Navy.
It took about a year to reach an agreement and to obtain all the proper
authorization. I recall that 2 months before our departure, we still hadn’t been
granted our authorization to dive in Brazilian waters. I had to add a clause in our
note of agreement to the authorities saying that if I did not receive the proper
authorization prior to the departure for our cruise, scheduled for December 1997,
I would change the program and we would pursue our dives outside the Brazilian
economic zone. Also, I told them that if I did not obtain satisfaction, there would
be no cooperation with any people from Brazilian Universities. This meant that
they would miss the opportunity of having fresh data from the region. This clause
was sent to the Brazilian Embassy in Paris via our IFREMER foreign relations
department (Direction de la Communication International, DRCI). Happily,
authorization for us to dive in Brazilian waters arrived soon afterwards.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for scientists to explore in the economic
zones of any country because of the legal aspects of any such scientific exploration. Sometimes, the administrations of some countries want to be given all the
data collected in their EZ (economic zone) and we often need to have hard discussions to convince them otherwise. It is frustrating when scientists no longer
have the freedom to pursue their research because they have to deal with
administrative constraints, which discourage us from working in any EZ. The day
when all the oceans have been divided up among all the countries that have
coastlines along the seas, it will be a nightmare for continued scientific exploration
and human progress.
In addition to the French institutions mentioned above (IFREMER and the
University of Brest), several other international institutes such as the University of
Kiel (Germany, P. Stoffers), the CNR and the University of Bologna (Italy, E
Bonatti), the Russian Academy of Science in Moscow in Russia (Gleb Udintsev)
and Susanna Sichel from the University of FUMENCIA (Itiroi, in Brazil) were all
involved in participating on the cruise and in studying the data obtained during our
St. Paul mission.
However, we had a more serious problem to resolve if we were to carry out our
objectives. We did not have any satisfactory map coverage for conducting a
submersible program. Our IFREMER draftsmen, Daniel Carré and Serge Monti,
had compiled the limited available bathymetric data at IFREMER in Brest by
using the international General Bathymetry Chart of the Oceans (GEPCO) and
some fragmented contour lines and sparse map data had been obtained from
colleagues who had participated on American, Russian and German expeditions
covering various portions of the St. Peter and Paul’s Rocks fracture zone. For
example the multichannel SeaBeam coverage of the western (near 1°N-29°W) and
the eastern (0°50
0 N and 25°35
0 W) parts near the Ridge Transform Intersection
Zones was carried out during both Russian (R.V. STRAKOV, Udintsev et al. 1990)
Historical Background of the Cruise
285