Marine Platforms

Expert Group Leader: Miguel Ojeda

Oversight EXCOM member: Ollie Darke

Terms of reference:

  • Share National Antarctic Program expertise on marine science support.

    • Create synergies amongst programs on marine research topics in Antarctica.

    • Identify co‐operative programs of scientific or technical matters that concern vessels managed from programs.

    • Facilitate cooperation between programs in the support of marine research.

  • Share National Antarctic Programs’ facilities and infrastructures information.

    • Enable programs to show their capacities to facilitate marine science (research ships, marine observatories, etc).

    • Share experiences and lessons learned in marine operations (protocols, guidance, etc).

    • Identify and advise on new technologies in marine science support (navigation, research equipment, vehicles (ROV, AUV, gliders), remote sensing, etc).

  • Report and advance relevant issues regarding ships and safety in navigation.

    • Extend knowledge on health, safety & environment.

    • Facilitate cooperation and coordination in marine Search and Rescue (SAR) operations.

    • Assess and evaluate relevant recommendations and measures in regards to maritime and navigation issues.

  • Advise and inform all Members on maritime and marine science issues arising from the Antarctic Treaty System.

  • Create synergies with other COMNAP Expert Groups, especially the Science Facilitation Expert Group.

Following on from the COMNAP Icebreaker Workshop 2013 and the vessel poster session at COMNAP AGM XXX (2018), to demonstrate that national Antarctic programs are considering and incorporating fuel savings, noise reduction, and other environmental operations technologies into their new vessel builds, COMNAP aimed to showcase the range of new research vessel builds for polar waters.

The outcomes of the project included the publication of the information in the peer-reviewed journal Polar Record. The open access article is available here.

The Executive Summary from the 23rd International Ice Charting Working Group (IICWG) Meeting, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 26-30 September 2022 is available here.
CCCAMLR, COMNAP, & IAATO made a joint presentation to the meeting in ragrds to vessel patterns and trends in a typical Antarctic season.
More information on the IICWG can be found at https://nsidc.org/noaa/iicwg.