R/v Oceania, a ship of the Institute of Oceanology PAS, has completed the 38th AREX cruise - over a three-month-long expedition to the Arctic. The vessel arrived at the Zbożowe Quay on September 11. It was welcomed on shore not only by scientists from IO PAS and families of the crew and researchers but also by representatives from the University of Gdańsk. The ship brought on board the last samples from the BaltArctic Research Cruise.

‘We study the past of the oceans. Our facility has planned research on two fjords and the West Svalbard shelf. On the fjords, of course, we succeeded, while on the shelf, our work was hampered by high dead waves,' says the research team leader of the last, sixth leg of the cruise, prof. dr hab. Marek Zajączkowski. ‘This year, one of our objectives was to determine the rate of sediment deposition on the shelf. Everyone usually focuses on the fjords or the open ocean, while the shelf is kind of unknown. For this, we need a special research technique - lead-210, a radionuclide that allows us to date modern sedimentation formed over the last 100 years.

R/v Oceania began the 38th AREX cruise with sampling together with the UG ship. The r/v Oceanograf collected research material closer to shore, while the IO PAS vessel sailed in the open sea. The next five legs of the IO PAS expedition took place in Arctic waters. R/v Oceania travelled thousands of nautical miles, spent 94 days away from her home port, and stopped at dozens of research points.

The crew and the research team from IO PAS were welcomed by, among others, dr Justyna Kobos from the Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, who participated in the BaltArctic Research Cruise. Similarly, IO PAS representatives welcomed the UG ship r/v Oceanograf, which returned from the BaltArctic Research Cruise on July 4. It is worth mentioning that the r/v Oceania carried the remaining samples needed for the international cruise's research.

The expedition to the North is one of many joint initiatives between IO PAS and UG. On September 2, the owners of Polish research vessels - including the Rector of the UG, prof. dr hab. Piotr Stepnowski, and the Director of IO PAS, prof. dr hab. Jan Marcin Węsławski - signed a letter of intent as the basis for the creation of the ‘Baltic Scientific Fleet’. The University of Gdańsk has also recently joined the ‘Maritime Planet’ initiative of the State Gallery of Art (Polish: Państwowa Galeria Sztuki, PGS) in Sopot and the Institute of Oceanology PAS, a series of meetings about everything connected with the sea. The first of these, entitled ‘Heritage’, will take place on September 19 at 6 p.m. at the PGS.