
Aerial view of the scientific ship 'Odón de Buen.' Photo Credit: CSIC
EnvironmentTechnologyMassive Ship Dives Deep Into the Ocean
A massive Spanish ship has recently set sail to help science better understand the parts of our oceans yet to be explored.
“The benefits of this ship aren’t just for Spain or for Europe, but for the whole world. [It] will provide essential data, so that political decisions can then be made on how to make transportation, tourism, fishing, and any other human activity in the oceans sustainable at a global level,” says María Gómez Ballesteros, an oceanography and vice-president of the Spanish National Research Council.
Construction for the vessel began in 2008 and rang at a hefty $89 million. The result is impressive: every voyage will be able to last for about 50 days. It will partly rely on liquefied natural gas, reducing the emissions of polluting particles by more than 90 per cent in marine-sensitive areas. What’s more, the Odón de Buen carries with it a multibeam sonar that can provide information on ocean depths up to 49,000 feet, deeper than the deepest known point currently known to man – The Mariana Trench – which is about 36,000 feet below sea level. The ship – 280 feet long and 60 feet wide – is expected to be able to map the seabed at almost any point on planet Earth, a first for science. Antarctica is set to be the first destination for Spain’s largest scientific ship.