At any one time scientists and technicians from the UK marine community can be at sea on numerous vessels. This page provides information on the current research expeditions being undertaken by our two Royal Research Ships Discovery and James Cook. Here you can discover where our ships are and what they are aiming to achieve.
Updates from the ships’ Plans of Intended Movement (PIM)
| RRS Discovery | RRS James Cook |
|---|---|
|
DTG: 200522 0730 Zone: UTC Exped: DY151 SEANA _Intensive Subj: PIM
WX: ENE F2 Overcast, fine and clear Sheltered harbour conditions.
Pos: SST at "Skarfabakki", Reykjavik
Status: Sailing delayed due to technical and operational issues. Expected departure p.m. today. Time tbc. |
James Cook Cruise: Alongside DTG: 200522 0737 Time Zone: UTC+1
a: SST, berth 26, Southampton b: Mobilise for JC232 |
This map shows the positions of the NOC operated vessels RRS Discovery and RRS James Cook. While every effort is made to keep this map up to date sometimes position updates are not possible.
Latest Expeditions
RRS James Cook
| Cruise | Principal scientist & institution | Location | Duration in days (begins) | Aim |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JC232 |
Principal Investigator & Chief Scientist |
Bay of Biscay |
10 days May - June 2022 |
Bay of Biscay Buoy Servicing Met Office buoys help provide meteorological data from data sparse regions to aid forecasting and climate research. The Brittany and Gascogne buoys are operated in partnership with Meteo France to observe weather systems moving across the Bay of Biscay. The Brittany buoy site needs to be serviced. The buoy must be replaced and the mooring changed. The existing buoy is a 3m diameter Mobilis DB8000, weighing 4 tonnes. The replacement buoy is a 3.6m diameter Mobilis DB14000, weighing 4.5 tonnes. The mooring is 2300m of nylon and polypropylene and has a 1.2 tonne sub-surface float. There is a two tonne cast iron sinker and 50m of 38mm chain on the seabed. The Gascogne buoy site needs to be serviced. The buoy must be replaced and the mooring changed. The existing buoy is a 3.6m diameter Mobilis DB14000, weighing 4.5 tonnes. The replacement buoy is of the same model. The mooring is 4500m of nylon and polypropylene. There is a two-tonne cast iron sinker and 50m of 38mm chain on the seabed. Ship-time & Marine Equipment Application Form (SME) Reference: 21/1578 |
RRS Discovery
| Cruise | Principal scientist & institution | Location | Duration in days (begins) | Aim |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DY151 |
Principal Investigator Chief Scientist |
Baffin Bay & Labrador Sea |
40 days May – June 2022 |
SEANA - Shipping Emissions in the Arctic and North Atlantic Atmosphere Global shipping is undergoing significant changes. In January 2020 the maximum sulphur emission by ships in international waters will reduce from 3.5% to 0.5% by mass, as a result of new International Maritime Organisation (IMO) regulations. Superimposed on that, changes in Arctic sea ice are opening up new seaways enabling shorter sea passages between key markets. As a result, significant growth in shipping via the North West Passage is anticipated in the coming years. Ships are major emitters of pollutant gases and particles that affect air quality and climate. A key challenge for assessing the climate impact is knowing the status of the natural/baseline aerosol system. There exists a short window of opportunity to define current atmospheric conditions, against which the impact of these changes must be determined. SEANA is a NERC-funded project (NE/S00579X/1), led by Dr Zongbo Shi (University of Birmingham) that aims to define the baseline atmosphere and model potential future changes. Multiple atmospheric measurements will be made from multiple platforms, to understand the sources of natural aerosol particles in addition to detecting the present-day impact of shipping. Indeed, a key role for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is to carry out novel atmospheric measurements during an expedition to the west of the North West Passage. Together, these new observations will be used in conjunction with a global aerosol microphysics model to predict the future impact of shipping on air quality, clouds and radiative forcing under multiple sea-ice and shipping scenarios. The transition to low-sulphur emissions in 2020 is an unprecedented opportunity to observe the impact of rapid emission reductions and constrain this response in atmospheric models. SEANA will provide unique observational data that will transform our model capacity to capture baseline Arctic and North Atlantic maritime aerosol and responses to emission changes, results of which will directly inform shipping policy at high-latitudes. atmospheric conditions, against which the impact of these changes must be determined. SEANA is a NERC-funded project (NE/S00579X/1), led by Dr Zongbo Shi (University of Birmingham) that aims to define the baseline atmosphere and model potential future changes. Multiple atmospheric measurements will be made from multiple platforms, to understand the sources of natural aerosol particles in addition to detecting the present-day impact of shipping. Indeed, a key role for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is to carry out novel atmospheric measurements during an expedition to the west of the North West Passage. Together, these new observations will be used in conjunction with a global aerosol microphysics model to predict the future impact of shipping on air quality, clouds and radiative forcing under multiple sea-ice and shipping scenarios. The transition to low-sulphur emissions in 2020 is an unprecedented opportunity to observe the impact of rapid emission reductions and constrain this response in atmospheric models. SEANA will provide unique observational data that will transform our model capacity to capture baseline Arctic and North Atlantic maritime aerosol and responses to emission changes, results of which will directly inform shipping policy at high-latitudes. Research Objectives The research objectives of SEANA are:
Further information can be found on the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) website here and on the University of Birmingham project website here Ship-time & Marine Equipment Application Form (SME) Reference: 18/785 |