Pelagia, a research vessel owned by the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (Nederlands Instituut voor Zeeonderzoek; NIOZ), is currently sailing on her final operational voyage with the organisation.
The vessel is presently in the North Sea, with her embarked scientists conducting a two-week study to determine whether abandoned methane wells on the seabed are continuing to leak the potent greenhouse gas.
A number of tools are being used for the measurements. These include remotely operated vehicles and an artificial bubble plume generator developed in-house by NIOZ.
"At these abandoned wells, we measure whether they leak, how much methane escapes to the water column, and how much is consumed by microbes before it reaches the atmosphere," said Professor Helge Niemann, an NIOZ biogeochemist who is embarked on Pelagia as cruise leader for the duration of the expedition.
Pelagia was built in 1990 by Verolme Shipyard in Heusden. The vessel has accommodation for up to 12 scientists and onboard facilities for handling and deploying up to 6,000 metres of cable for use with a CTD winch.
During her 35 years in service, the vessel was deployed primarily in the North Sea but had also sailed to more distant regions such as Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Red Sea, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Anna Weber-van Bosse, Pelagia’s successor, is in the final stages of construction at Spain's Armon Shipyard and is scheduled for delivery before the end of this year. She will enter service next spring.