SOURCE. SPAIN NAVY. MAY 23, 2013

The “Hespérides” has sailed 26,200 miles in the six months that the operation has lasted.

The objective of this campaign was twofold, on the one hand to provide support to the Spanish Antarctic Bases and on the other to carry out five scientific projects on board, supported by on-board technicians and by the ship’s crew. Various organizations within the Higher Council for Scientific Research and different Spanish universities have also participated in this campaign. These projects are:

• Recovery of an anchoring line with different scientific equipment, deposited in the last Antarctic campaign, north of the Scotia Sea Ridge. In addition, a hydrographic study of the slope was carried out, taking advantage of the presence of members of the Navy Hydrographic Institute, to carry out a bathymetric survey of the area in support of the scientific study.
• Study of the Scotia Sea basins and tectonics at the edge of the Scotia-Antarctic plates.
• Characterization of the seabed in the Chilean Aysen Fjord, where an earthquake caused landslides that generated a tsunami in 2007, which caused 10 deaths and the destruction of the salmon industry in the area. Carried out by scientists from the University of Barcelona.
• Evolution of carbon of human origin and carbon dioxide absorption capacity in the Atlantic Ocean
• Biological and biogeochemical mechanisms that limit the total remineralization of dissolved organic carbon in marine systems

Vessel characteristics

The ‘Hespérides’ is the only Spanish ship designed to carry out multidisciplinary scientific research in all the seas and oceans of the planet, which has made possible the development of all planned scientific research.

The ship has a crew of 59 sailors and can accommodate up to 37 scientists and technicians.

In the period 2010-2011, the ship participated in the ‘Malaspina Expedition’, circumnavigating the globe from west to east for the first time. The campaign lasted seven months and more than 40,000 scientific samples were taken.

The Maintenance plan for this Ship was prepared in 2007/2008 by the Spanish Navy in collaboration with engineers from