NIOZ at sea­

With the delivery in early 2026 of the RV Anna Weber-van Bosse, the Dutch research fleet has now been completely renewed. Together with the RV Wim Wolff for coastal research and the RV Adriaen Coenen for research in the Wadden Sea, the Dutch marine research community now has three modern research vessels, ready for the current and next generations of scientists. Have a look at the overview of the science cruises in 2025 and some links to blogs on board the research vessels.

Photo of NIOZ Research Vessel Anna Weber-van Bosse

Finalizing RV Anna Weber-van Bosse

Throughout 2025, Astilleros Armon shipyards in Vigo worked hard to fit out the RV Anna Weber-van Bosse and prepare it for delivery. Almost every day, 200 workers were busy finishing the engines, cranes, electricity, piping, carpentry and testing. All of this was carried out in close consultation with the NIOZ site team, who were present at the shipyard at all times for inspection and approval. In the last months of 2025, they were joined by the NIOZ crew, who were there to familiarize themselves with the vessel. Everyone was looking forward to commissioning this state-of-the art flagship of ocean research in the Netherlands. Read more on RV Anna Weber-van Bosse >

Photo of NIOZ Research Vessel Pelagia, with swimming people in front of it - photo taken from the water

Goodbye to RV Pelagia

On 16 October 2025 NIOZ organised a farewell party for RV Pelagia. Around 200 people gathered to say goodbye to the ship and share stories and visit her one more time. Since 1991, she has provided a wealth of knowledge about the seas and oceans, and countless precious memories. More pictures and stories here >

Read the blog on her final cruise here >

SCIENCE CRUISES PELAGIA 2025

Illustration of map of the world with 12 dots in it representing the 12 locations of the ship pelagia

Location 1: 28-01 until 19-02 Mindelo – Las Palmas (Rick Hennekamp/Darci Rush, NIOZ, TIP-TOP) Blog of location 1 > Location 2: 11-03 until 16-03 Las Palmas – Las Palmas (Eric Delory, PLOCAN, Spain, ECOBIOGEO25) Location 3: 18-03 until 28-03 Las Palmas – Praia (Jan-Berend Stuut, NIOZ, DUST2025) Blog of location 3 >

Location 4: 14-04 until 23-04 Willemstad – Willemstad (Linda Amaral-Zettler/Erik Zettler, NIOZ, Weeds of change) Blog of location 4 > Location 5: 12-05 until 31-05 Ponta Delgada – Las Palmas (Peter Kraal, NIOZ, PHOSFLUX) Blog of location 5 > Location 6: 01-06 until 15-06 Las Palmas – Porto (Furu Mienis/Joana Xavier, NIOZ/CIIMAR (Portugal), TWINDEEPS) Blog of location 6 >

Location 7: 25-06 until 06-07 Texel – Texel (Dick van Oevelen/Karline Soetaert, NIOZ, Concerted Action North Sea) Location 8: 08-07 until 20-07 Texel – Texel (Furu Mienis/Margaux Brandon, NIOZ, NoSE North Sea Atlantic Exchange) Blog of location 8 > Location 9: 31-07 until 29-08 Reykjavik – Terceira (Gergard Herndl, University of Vienna, NEREIDES)

Location 10: 21-07 until 01-09 Terceira – Terceira (Fleur Visser, NIOZ, Deep-sea prey and hunting whales 2025) Location 11: 08-09 until 16-09 Terceira – Texel (WHOI ARGO float deployments during transit) Location 12: 18-09 until 08-10 Texel – Texel (Helge Niemann/Martin Wilpshaar, NIOZ/TNO, Methane 4) Blog of location 12 >

SCIENCE CRUISES WIM WOLFF 2025

Illustration of map of The Netherlands with 8 dots in it representing the 8 locations of the ship Wim Wolff

Location 1: WATLAS/Shorebirds (Allert Bijleveld, NIOZ), 6 cruises Location 2: SIBES (Allert Bijleveld, NIOZ), 3 cruises Blog of location 2 >

Location 3: MaMa course (NIOZ), 1 week Blog of location 3 > Location 4: The carbon and biodiversity value of offshore seaweed farming at NSF1 (Anna Queiros, PML, the UK), 1 cruise

Location 5: SUBES2025 (Tjisse van der Heide, NIOZ), 4 cruises Location 6: DCC-Summerschool (Theo Gerkema/Aimeé Slangen, NIOZ), 1 week

Location 7: Delta Enigma (13H) (Tjeerd Bouma, NIOZ), 2 cruises Location 8: Blue Eye testing (Amin Niamir/Jeroen van Dalen, NIOZ), 2 cruises