Action: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will experiment with a program of public-private competition to help fulfill its mission.28 NOAA, a part of the Commerce Department, maintains a fleet of ships to support its research on oceans and marine life and its nautical charting. But its fleet is reaching the end of its projected life expectancy. And even with the fleet, NOAA has consistently fallen far short of the 5,000 days at sea that it claims to need each year to fulfill its mission. NOAA faces a basic question--whether to undertake a total fleet replacement and modernization plan, estimated to cost more than $1.6 billion in the next 15 years, or charter some privately owned ships. The experience of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which contracts out 30 to 40 percent of its ocean floor charting to private firms, shows that the private sector can and will do this kind of work. Competition among private companies for these services also might reduce costs.