After three years of dedicated collaboration, the EuroGO-SHIP project is drawing to a close this November. Co-funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme and UK Research and Innovation, EuroGO-SHIP has worked to understand the needs of the ship-based hydrography community in European and advance best practices toward the delivery of quality data. Through consultation with these communities, and demonstrating the value of sharing knowledge and facilities, the project has laid the groundwork for a better-aligned approach toward delivering marine data within the framework of a new European research infrastructure, offering a more integrated contribution to the Global Ocean Ship-Based Hydrographic Investigations Program (GO-SHIP).
To mark this milestone, the project consortium hosted its final event on 5 November 2025 in Brussels, bringing together partners, stakeholders, and the wider marine science community to share the project’s key achievements and offer a glimpse of what a future EuroGO-SHIP Research Infrastructure (RI) could provide for Europe’s oceanographic landscape. The development of a future RI aims to strengthen coordination, enhance data quality, and advance our collective understanding of the changing ocean. The event brought together over 30 participants. It included show & tell displays, presentations and a panel discussion, and provided an opportunity to engage with the project’s scientists.
During the EuroGO-SHIP project, pilots were carried out on research cruises and in the laboratory to advance best practice protocols for anaylsis and quality control in support of improving the accuracy of hydrographic data. Training material and tools have been developed to share these recommended techniques; they are available on the project website and are part of the project’s Key Exploitable Results Collection.
Research vessels, which have been used to explore and understand our ocean since the 1700s (1), remain one of the essential pillars of marine RI. Beyond research vessels, Europe hosts an extensive network of marine research facilities, encompassing not only ships and embarkable equipment, but also on-land and offshore research and test sites in the physical, biological, and chemical domains. This network also includes a wide range of remote and in-situ observation systems that together provide the foundation for Europe’s ocean science and innovation. The Map of this week highlights the distribution of marine research installations across Europe. Click on the map to explore each facility’s key characteristics, including the access links, and discover the diversity of tools supporting Europe’s marine research community.
Wish to learn more?
Visit the EuroGO-SHIP website to learn more about the importance of ship-based hydrography, explore the project’s mission and find out about key achievements and resources. Have a look at the factsheets and discover the success stories and the ‘Postcards from the sea’.
- Register for the upcoming EuroGO-SHIP webinar on 20 November 2025 to hear about the project directly from the project partners.
Follow the EuroGO-SHIP project’s social media channels.
Explore this week’s map to see where research vessel activities take place across Europe.
The data in the map is provided by EurOcean.