Shipping Unesco wants to use 10,000 merchant ships for research
The UN science organization Unesco wants to equip 10,000 merchant ships with measuring sensors to improve research into the oceans. The data collected in this way will be used for the Global Ocean Observing System, as Unesco announced on Saturday.
08.06.2025, 06:33
SDA
"Despite the significant efforts made in recent years, we know the seabed less well than the craters of the moon," explained Unesco Director-General Audrey Azoulay in Paris. Exploring the oceans is "the great scientific adventure of our time".
The international community must no longer ignore the warnings of science and must invest massively in ocean research, for which less than two percent of national research budgets are currently available.
So far, only 2,000 ships have been equipped with the sensors, including the boats of the Vendée Globe sailing regatta and commercial ships.
Climate change and safety
Unesco wants to use the UN Ocean Conference, which begins on Monday in Nice, to promote its member states and players in the shipping industry to participate in the collection of measurement data in the sea. The sensors transmit meteorological and oceanographic data in real time. The aim is to better identify the effects of climate change and extreme climate phenomena and also improve the safety of maritime shipping.
After less than six percent in 2017, 26.1 percent of the seabed is now mapped in high resolution. At the UN Ocean Conference, some countries such as Germany, Norway, Portugal and Canada are expected to pledge to publish their marine data.
