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 |
|---|---|
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DTG: 220323 0730 Zone: UTC-1 Exped: DY157 - AMT Subj: PIM
Pos: 28 41’ N, 023 59’ W WX: NE F4. Cloudy, fine and clear. Confused seas and moderate swell. Co: 025 Speed: 9.1 kts
Status: 0200h station completed. Intentions: Stop for 1200h station then continue along AMT track towards Southampton.
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James Cook Cruise: JC241 DTG: 220323 0743 Time Zone: UTC-7
Position: 11° 23'N 101° 36'W Course: 098° Speed: 10kt Wind: ENE 19kts Sea: low sea and swell Status: Passage to Caldera Intentions: ETA 260323
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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Principal Investigator |
Clarion-Clipperton Zone Pacific |
50 days February - March 2023 |
Deep-Sea Mining Governance of deep-sea mining is underpinned by the legal requirement to avoid serious harm to the marine environment from any activities. The need to avoid serious harm provides the threshold for decisions on whether deep-sea mining should take place and helps determine the scale of activities permitted. Yet, the scientific community lack much of the basic information to determine the nature, magnitude and ecological importance of harmful environmental effects resulting from deep-sea mining. This information is urgently needed for policy making and governance at the international (ISA) and national level (UK and other governments acting as sponsoring states) and by industry who all want evidence to assess the risks of mining operations. The NERC SMARTEX (Seabed Mining And Resilience To EXperimental impact) project aims to provide the scientific evidence base for informed decision making by understanding the long-term environmental impacts of mining and whether this will have serious consequences to the ecosystem. The aims of SMARTEX are to:
Highlight topics - Fifth round Topic C - Impact of experimental deep-sea mining in the Central Pacific: A new inter-disciplinary challenge for UK environmental science Project website can be viewed here Social Media hashtag: #smartexccz Seabed Mining And Resilience To EXperimental impact (NE/T003537/1) Ship-time & Marine Equipment Application Form (SME) Reference: 19/990 |
RRS Discovery
| Cruise | Principal scientist & institution | Location | Duration in days (begins) | Aim |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DY157 |
Principal Investigator & Chief Scientist |
Atlantic |
39 days February & April 2023 |
AMT - The Atlantic Meridional Transect The Atlantic Meridional Transect programme (AMT) is a part of the NERC NC-funded multi-system long term science programme “Climate Linked Atlantic Sector Science” (CLASS). AMT undertakes biological, chemical and physical oceanographic research during an annual voyage between the UK and destinations in the South Atlantic (including the Falkland Islands, South Africa and Chile). This transect of >12,000 km crosses a range of ecosystems from sub-polar to tropical, from euphotic shelf seas and upwelling systems, to oligotrophic mid-ocean gyres. AMT provides a contextual logistical and scientific infrastructure for independently funded national and international open ocean biogeochemical and ecological research. Throughout the lifetime of the AMT, the specific objectives have evolved to enable the maintenance of a continuous set of observations, whilst addressing current concerns to global issues that are raised throughout the IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate and UK environmental strategy. For this phase of the programme the objectives are to:
AMT objectives also align with those of the Integrated Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (SCOR/IGBP); the sponsored international programmes Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (IMBER); Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS); and (GEOTRACES) an International Study of the Marine Biogeochemical Cycles of Trace Elements and Isotopes. Further information can be found on the Climate Linked Atlantic Sector Science (CLASS) website here Ship-time & Marine Equipment Application Form (SME) Reference: 20/1469 |