Antarctica and deep oceans: scientific targets for the R/V Hesperides

The R/V HESPERIDES, commissioned in 1991, has become the flag ship of the Spanish oceanographic fleet. She is an ice strengthened multi-purpose oceanographic research vessel designed and built in Spain, in order to extend oceanographic research to Antarctica and to the deep oceans. For the first time, this vessel has made available to the scientific community of Spain a platform fitted with a minimum suite of permanently installed scientific instrumentation suitable for oceanographic research. The vessel is managed through the national research agency (CICYT), with a 2-year schedule programmed in advance and peer review of proposals. The R/V HESPERIDES is a stable and low noise platform equipped with a sophisticated navigation and controlling system. The state-of-the art scientific equipment allows modern research in the different fields of oceanography, from physical and biological oceanography to marine geosciences and geophysics. The scientific activities carried out on board form part of both yearly Antarctic research and longer term research projects, in order to strengthen the productivity and competitiveness of the Spanish scientific institutions. Current activity areas are Antarctica, the Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans and the Mediterranean Sea.