On the second of June, the Oceanograf received many distinguished guests. First, a press conference was held on board, where representatives of Kiel University and Professor Fidel Echevarria, the coordinator of the alliance, talked about the cruise and SEA-EU itself. The members of the SEA-EU Governing Board were then given a tour of the vessel by dr Aleksandra Brodecka-Goluch, the cruise's scientific director, and Andrzej Wawrzyniak, the ship's captain.
The University of Gdańsk authorities came to Kiel to visit the cruise research team and to take part in the deliberations of the SEA-EU Governing Board. Representatives from all nine universities attended the meeting of the alliance's overarching body.
The session of the June SEA-EU Governing Board was opened by the Rector of the University of Cadiz, prof. Francisco Piniella. One of the objectives of the meeting was to welcome three new universities to the alliance: University of Naples, University of Algavre and Norway's NORD University. The participants also discussed the situation in Ukraine and the future of the alliance, i.e. SEA 2.0. The next such meeting will be held in Brest on September 21.
SEA-EU representatives then arrived on the R/V Oceanograf, where a press conference was held.
- 'It is a pleasure for us to carry out a cruise on such a large, modern ship from Gdynia to Cadiz,' - said prof. Fidel Echevarria to the German media. - 'This voyage unites all SEA-EU universities located on the coast of the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, but it also unites disciplines. Together we are increasing our scientific potential and that is the purpose of our venture.'
The press conference was attended by, among others, TV stations SAT. 1 and RTL Nord as well as the local press Kieler Nachtrichten.
Representatives from across the SEA-EU alliance came on board. - 'Soon our brave catamaran will sail out of the Baltic Sea. It will be a kind of trial by fire for it. Let's hope that this is not the last expedition of this type,' - said the Rector of the University of Gdańsk, prof. dr hab. Piotr Stepnowski. The members of the alliance were shown the research unit by dr Aleksandra Brodecka-Goluch and Andrzej Wawrzyniak.
The whole event received a lot of media attention. - 'To the idea of the SEA-EU alliance, we added information about the cruise and the topic of research that is of interest to society, i.e. air quality and greenhouse gases,' - says Eva Sittig, Spokesperson at the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel. - 'This has really attracted the media, although one newspaper is preparing a piece about something completely different. I am very pleased with the interest generated by today's event.'
Material about our ship in the German media:
1) NDR SH Magazine:
2) RTL Nord: from 22:26min
3) SAT1: from 10:30min
