FIELD OPS · CONTROLLED DOCUMENT
AE-SOP-0450 — Gyre-Station Operations & Resupply
To sustain the Pacific and Atlantic Gyre Stations as autonomous forward platforms for plastic recovery, patrol, and sensor relay, and to govern their periodic resupply by the MV Gyre Keeper. The procedure guarantees that each station holds the consumable and power margins to operate between resupply runs, that the recovery operation never overruns storage, and that resupply windows are met before any margin is breached — because a gyre station that runs out of capacity stops working the patch it was placed to clean.
ActiveField OpsRev C
Doc Control AE-SOP-0450Revision CEffective 2090-06-10Next Review 2091-06-10Owner Fleet OperationsApprover Fleet AdmiraltyStatus ActiveClass RESTRICTED // TIDEWATER-EYES-ONLY
1. Purpose
To sustain the Pacific and Atlantic Gyre Stations as autonomous forward platforms for plastic recovery, patrol, and sensor relay, and to govern their periodic resupply by the MV Gyre Keeper. The procedure guarantees that each station holds the consumable and power margins to operate between resupply runs, that the recovery operation never overruns storage, and that resupply windows are met before any margin is breached — because a gyre station that runs out of capacity stops working the patch it was placed to clean.
2. Scope
All Gyre-Station operation and scheduled resupply.
- In scope: Station autonomy monitoring, plastic-recovery throughput, consumable and power margins, resupply scheduling, and crew rotation.
- Out of scope: Drone-swarm tasking launched from the station, which follows AE-SOP-0330; interdiction action against vessels in the patch, which follows AE-SOP-0320.
3. Definitions
| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Gyre Station | An autonomous forward platform stationed in an ocean gyre for plastic recovery, patrol, and relay. |
| Autonomy Margin | The operating reserve of power, consumables, and storage a station holds between resupply runs. |
| Recovery Throughput | The rate of plastic and debris recovered, bounded by onboard storage and processing capacity. |
| Resupply Window | The scheduled interval in which the Gyre Keeper must reach a station before a margin is breached. |
| Crew Rotation | The scheduled exchange of station crew, run on the resupply cycle. |
4. Responsibilities
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|
| Fleet Operations (Owner) | Owns station operations; schedules resupply and authorises crew rotation. |
| Station Master | Runs recovery and patrol, manages onboard margins, and requests resupply before breach. |
| Gyre Keeper Master | Executes the resupply run within the window and offloads recovered material. |
| NEREID | Tracks autonomy margins across both stations, forecasts breach dates, and schedules the resupply window automatically. |
5. Gyre-Station Operating Margins
| Resource | Operating Floor | Resupply Trigger | Hard Limit |
|---|
| Power autonomy | ≥ 14 days reserve | < 21 days forecast | < 7 days — priority run |
| Plastic storage | ≤ 75 % full | > 80 % full | 95 % — pause recovery |
| Consumables / fuel | ≥ 21 days | < 30 days forecast | < 10 days — priority run |
| Crew rotation | On resupply cycle | Rotation due | Max tour exceeded |
Note. Resupply is scheduled on the trigger, not the hard limit; recovery pauses before storage overruns, and a station crossing any hard limit gets a priority run ahead of the routine cycle.
6. Materials & Equipment
- Gyre Station platform with recovery and processing plant
- Onboard power, consumable, and storage telemetry
- MV Gyre Keeper resupply vessel and offload rig
- Patrol and sensor-relay suite
- Resupply scheduling and forecast console
- Crew-rotation roster and provisioning manifest
7. Procedure
7.1 Operate
- Run plastic recovery and patrol within onboard storage and power margins.
- Hold each resource above its operating floor.
- Pause recovery before plastic storage overruns the hard limit.
7.2 Schedule
- Forecast margin breach dates across both stations.
- Schedule the resupply window on the trigger, ahead of any hard limit.
- Raise a priority run for any station crossing a hard limit.
7.3 Resupply & Rotate
- Execute the Gyre Keeper resupply run within the window.
- Offload recovered material and replenish consumables and fuel.
- Rotate crew on the resupply cycle and update the manifest.
8. Records
- Station operating log with margin trend (retained 3 years)
- Recovery-throughput and storage record
- Resupply schedule and run record
- Crew-rotation roster
- Offload and provisioning manifest
9. References
10. Revision History
| Rev | Date | Author | Summary |
|---|
| A | 2088-09-25 | Fleet Operations | Initial issue; gyre-station autonomy and resupply scheduling established. |
| B | 2089-09-12 | Fleet Operations | Added operating floors, resupply triggers, and storage hard limit. |
| C | 2090-06-10 | Fleet Operations | NEREID margin forecasting and automatic resupply-window scheduling added. |