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Scientists rely on dedicated ships carrying specialised equipment and a skilled crew to carry out oceanographic and geological surveys, biological sampling, climate change measurements and other marine research.
Typically, these vessels are operated nationally, which can mean researchers in well-equipped nations find their voyages overlapping, while those from less well-equipped countries struggle to carry out research at all.
“One of the big main goals of EurofleetsPlus was to allow the European research vessel fleet to act as one,” says project coordinator Aodhán Fitzgerald from the Marine Institute in Ireland. “This benefits economy, fuel efficiency and emissions, and means that we are not sending a vessel for miles somewhere where there already is a very capable vessel nearby.”
Shared resources
EurofleetsPlus created a platform open to researchers across Europe as well as international partners, allowing them to apply for space and experimental slots aboard a range of vessels situated in the Arctic, east and west Atlantic, Pacific and Antarctic.
As well as choosing the most suitable voyage for their work, researchers could also access specialist equipment, including seven remotely operated vehicles and five autonomous underwater vehicles.
The project supported the researchers by covering the costs of chartering the ships. “Smaller vessels cost in the order of five or six thousand euro a day, and larger vessels would be into the tens of thousands a day, based on how much fuel they use, how many crew they have, and the number of scientists they take on board,” explains Fitzgerald.
The project also developed the Remote Transnational Access programme, making it easier for researchers to add their experiment to an expedition, supervising the process from their own lab. “If a scientist wanted a core taken somewhere in the remote part of the ocean, the ship could take a day out of its programme and get that, without having the cost and the expense, as well as the environmental footprint, of having to send the scientist to join the ship,” says Fitzgerald.
Plain sailing
Of the 68 applications received, the project provided 268 funded ship days over 28 scientific campaigns, involving 315 embarked participants. Early-career scientists made up a third of the participants. “We encouraged Principal Investigators to accommodate early-career researchers on board, and they were able to conduct their own research alongside the main funded project,” adds Fitzgerald.
Successes brought about through the programme included the mapping of vulnerable ecosystems in the Azores, seismic surveys of unexplored regions off the west coast of Ireland, and tagging live Greenland sharks to learn more about these mysterious creatures that can live for 500 years.
Projects supported by EurofleetsPlus were required to make data collected during the voyages available through the European Virtual Infrastructure in Ocean Research, helping to further accelerate research.
Oceans, rivers and lakes
EurofleetsPlus builds on previous work carried out by the Eurofleets and EUROFLEETS2 projects. “At the end of almost 13 years of work, it’s really brought the European research vessel community together,” notes Fitzgerald. He is now working with a consortium of four countries to continue the Eurofleets initiative.
Building on the work of EurofleetsPlus, the Marine Institute is currently coordinating the AQUARIUS project, a Horizon Europe-funded project offering access to marine and freshwater research infrastructures across Europe, including not only vessels but fixed observing platforms, aircraft, satellite data, drones and laboratories.
This will ensure that European and global researchers are able to continue the essential work of understanding our planet, and our future.