ANCHOR Act

The ANCHOR Act (Accelerating Networking, Cyberinfrastructure, and Hardware for Oceanic Research Act) would direct the National Science Foundation to create a comprehensive plan to upgrade the cybersecurity and communications systems of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet. These vessels are U.S.-flagged ships operated by research universities and laboratories that conduct oceanographic research and support federally sponsored missions affecting human health, energy development, ocean hazards, and national security. The bill would require the NSF to assess the telecommunications and networking needs of these research vessels, evaluate their cybersecurity vulnerabilities, estimate costs for necessary upgrades, and identify opportunities for shared solutions or cost-saving agreements. The NSF would need to submit this plan to Congress within 18 months of enactment and later report on implementation progress. The bill passed the House on May 20, 2025, with overwhelming bipartisan support (412-11 vote) and is now in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. No new federal funding is authorized by the legislation, and the plan would address how the NSF, Navy, universities, and other stakeholders could share costs for modernizing these research vessels' digital infrastructure to protect sensitive data from cyber threats.