San Diego

The flag that flutters atop the JOIDES Resolution, one of the world's premier scientific ships, does not represent any of the more than 20 nations that have funded her decades of journeys on the seven seas. Instead it is the banner of Liberia — a West African country that has diverted funds from its fat ship-registration coffers to fund arms purchases for civil wars.

The Resolution, like many other ships, flies under this flag of convenience in order to limit taxes, while operating under fewer regulations for safety and crew working conditions.

But human-rights organizations have discovered in recent years that Liberia and neighbouring countries have used money from shipping registration to fund conflicts noted for their use of child soldiers. This has prompted some commercial ship owners to shift their registration elsewhere. Now a growing number of scientists are hoping that the owners of the Resolution will follow suit.

The Resolution's scientific cruises are managed by the Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI), a Washington-based consortium of 18 public institutes that receive funds from the US National Science Foundation (NSF). In September, the JOI won a ten-year, $625-million contract from the NSF to manage the US component of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), an international drilling endeavour (see page 492).

The JOI learned of the concerns about Liberian registry at least two years ago, when a former third mate from the Resolution wrote to US Senator Michael Enzi and Representative Barbara Cubin, both Republicans from Wyoming, complaining about the use of NSF funds for a Liberian ship registry. The mate branded the practice un-American, and claimed that it exploited crewmen from developing nations. “The NSF and the American taxpayer should never fund a ship that does not fly the flag of the USA,” the mate wrote.

JOI president Steven Bohlen says that the seaman was a “disgruntled employee” who was discharged because of limited skills. And both the JOI and the Resolution's owners insisted that the ship was operated safely under Liberian rules. The members of Congress took no action. Neither did the JOI or the NSF, whose officials say that the agency does not have a position on the issue.

But as the Resolution prepares to sail for the IODP, concerns are re-emerging from scientists, who wish to remain anonymous, that scientific funds from the United States, Japan and Europe are continuing to go to Liberia. They say that few researchers associated with the IODP are familiar with the issue, but that many of those who are feel strongly about a change in registration.

Bohlen says that his agency has been too busy developing the IODP to address the issue of ship registry. But Guy Cantwell, a spokesman for Transocean, the world's largest offshore drilling firm, which is based in Houston, Texas, and co-owns the Resolution, says: “We are aware that this is an issue in the scientific community.” After Nature contacted Transocean, Cantwell said that the firm is considering switching the Resolution's registration to a more politically palatable low-tax nation, such as the Marshall Islands in the Pacific.