The new high-tech research vessel Belgica is sailing to the polar regions for the first time to document and investigate the consequences of climate change in the oceans. We were allowed on board for a week.
The bright white bridge of the Research Vessel Belgica looms on the horizon. Dozens of curious Irish people have gathered at the docks of the port town of Galway to catch a glimpse of the 71-metre-long Belgian research ship, which left Zeebrugge naval base two weeks earlier. “We don’t often get ships like that here,” says Marc, as he peers through his binoculars. He has been waiting on the 19th century quay with two friends for an hour. They keep themselves warm against the cold Atlantic Ocean wind with a bottle of whiskey. “The Belgica seems to be one of the best European research vessels,” says Stiofán, a retired fisherman. In his hands he holds a drawing that his daughter made for the captain of the ship.
Galway is the first port of call on the Belgica’s polar expedition. After a change of personnel and maintenance, the ship will set sail for Iceland, finally ending up in the fjords of Greenland in August. Researchers collect data about the biological, geological and hydrodynamic processes that take place in the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Circle. The polar expedition is unique in Belgian oceanography and a first real test for the new ship.
David Van Rooij is a geologist and has Adrien de Gerlache’s biography on the coffee table in his cabin. In 1897 he traveled to Antarctica on a converted Norwegian whaler, renamed De Belgica. “With that expedition he achieved many scientific breakthroughs,” says Van Rooij. As a young student, he was mesmerized by the second Belgica, a research vessel of the Belgian government. When cold-water coral reefs were discovered off the coast of Ireland in the late 1980s, Van Rooij had found his field of work. As a doctoral student, he made his first voyage on the ship to the reefs now known as Belgica Mound. ‘Even then I wanted to explore the ocean. It is the only place on earth where you can really discover something.’
A few years ago, that ‘second Belgica’, which had now traveled a million kilometers, started to show signs of age. In the summer of 2015, the engine room flooded due to a leak and the following year the ship, which had already been retired for ten years, was forced to anchor for months. In 2018, then State Secretary Zuhal Demir (N-VA) and then Minister of Defense Steven Vandeput (N-VA) announced the construction of a new research vessel. Cost price: 54 million euros. Because a revival of the name was difficult for the Flemish nationalists, students were given the opportunity to come up with alternatives, after which the general public could vote. In that vote, ‘Belgica’ came out again.
Handyman
“The new Belgian ship is the cream of the crop of the European research fleet,” Kelle Moreau, science communicator at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), tells a group of interested Irish scientists during a tour. With 400 square meters of laboratory space, modern measuring equipment and high-tech gadgets, it offers significantly more opportunities for scientific research than its predecessor. The Belgica can spend up to 300 days a year at sea and is equipped with an ice reinforcement, allowing the ship to operate in polar regions for the first time. “Unlike the French and British, Belgium cannot build an entire fleet,” Moreau explains. ‘That’s why we deployed everything on one ship. It has become a jack of all trades.’
The multidisciplinary nature of the Belgica means that different research teams can collect data simultaneously. In this way, oceanographic, geological and fisheries research can be carried out. Geologists, marine biologists, chemists and oceanologists can work on the ship at the same time.
The Belgica is part of the European research fleet, which means that foreign scientists can also apply for research time on the ship. “In 2023 we received more requests than there are days in the year,” says Moreau. In the meantime, almost the entire European research fleet is seriously outdated and in need of replacement. New, high-tech ships such as the Belgica are a mecca for marine research, but with only room for 24 scientists, the places are highly coveted.
Because a huge American cruise ship has to enter the narrow harbor of Galway, the departure of the Belgica to Iceland is brought forward one day. The crew hurriedly prepares the ship for departure. Two noisy Breton crew members, coming straight from the pub, stumble onto the service bridge just in time. They admit to being ‘complètement bourrés’. The two laboriously put on their safety helmets and get to work.
Once at sea, Captain Seppe Machiels has time to deal with them. Alcohol is strictly prohibited on the research vessel. That has everything to do with events that occurred on its predecessor. In 2007, a 26-year-old oceanology student filed a complaint against the ship’s technical head for rape. When the ship was moored in the French port city of Brest, the marine, who was drunk, allegedly locked up and raped the student. The ship’s commander is said to have been informed, but failed to inform the French police. The case caused a stir because the Belgian navy allegedly concealed the rape. The Belgica soon acquired the nickname Loveboat, because dubious incidents are said to have occurred in ports.
“I consider everyone on this ship to be a responsible individual, but alcohol has no place here,” Machiels sternly addresses the two crew members. The captain says he prefers consultation over discipline. ‘Every now and then you have to let off steam, that’s human. But this situation was not optimal. Fortunately, it never became unsafe.’
Although the Belgica is an auxiliary ship of the Belgian Navy and sails under its flag, most of the crew consists of personnel from the French operator Genavir. This sometimes leads to tensions. “Communication is often difficult,” says Machiels. ‘In principle, English is the main language on the ship, but you quickly fall back on French.’ Every day the captain takes the time to talk to all crew members. ‘There is no need to enforce authority, as commander I am the oil that makes the machine work.’
The light blue sky of the Irish coast has now made way for dense fog and threatening clouds. The bow of the ship hits the meter-high waves of the North Atlantic Ocean. “Such turbulent seas are sometimes detrimental to our research,” says doctoral student Lotte Verweirder. She tries to map the seabed with a multibeam echo sounder, a sonar system. “Not all data is collected due to the shocks of the waves,” she says. A few days earlier, the research was halted by an approaching whale. Verweirder has been on board for several weeks, and that is starting to weigh on him mentally. ‘It’s not easy being away from friends and family for so long. But the work we do is important.”
Heat waves
The Belgica’s first expedition to the polar regions comes at a crucial time for oceanographic research. The North Atlantic Ocean has been in the grip of extreme heat waves for months. Unseen surface temperatures are measured. A record of 19.9 degrees Celsius was already reached at the beginning of March. Since then, temperatures have deviated in a way unseen since measurements began in 1981. Scientific institutions worldwide are sounding the alarm. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) describes the high temperatures as a category five heat wave, the highest, and categorizes it as ‘more than extreme’. By autumn, half of all seas would experience heat waves.
CTD equipment is launched about a hundred kilometers off the Icelandic coast. It consists of a white cylindrical aluminum frame with 24 black bottles that is lowered by a crane into the dark waves. “We thus detect how the temperature of the water column changes compared to depth,” says Mikhail Kononets, a Swedish researcher from the University of Gothenburg. It is easy to read from the faces in the control room that the incoming data is not what they expected. “We measured a temperature of 10 degrees, which is several degrees warmer than normal,” says Kononets. “This has never been established before.”
There are some possible explanations for the intensity of the heat wave. The natural phenomenon of El Niño, a band of warm water in the Pacific Ocean, can cause other oceans to warm. But the rate at which the Atlantic Ocean is now warming is unprecedented. ‘Anomalies, deviations from averages, appear everywhere in the oceans. That is a sign that something serious is going on,” explains Professor Filip Meysman of the University of Antwerp. It is feared that global warming is changing the circulation of seawater. ‘We don’t know what else is coming our way. It seems as if we are gradually entering unknown climate territory, where major surprises may emerge.’
There is no doubt that the consequences of such heat waves in the Atlantic Ocean are enormous. The warming water means there is less oxygen, which organisms need to survive. Animal and plant species that are essential to the Atlantic Ocean ecosystem, such as kelp and seagrass, could be seriously damaged. “The oceans absorb about a quarter of the CO₂,” says Meysman. Kelp forests absorb almost 200 million tons of carbon. When the oceans warm, those organisms can also die. At the same time, it is disrupting the habitats of oysters and several fish species that are important to regional economies. The warming is also accompanied by an increased intensity of storms. The Atlantic hurricane season, which started on June 1, has already produced three storms, including two simultaneously, which is exceptional.
At the same time, the ocean can provide a solution to climate change. “We find volcanic minerals off the coast of Iceland that are brought to the sea by the glaciers,” says Meysman. That rock weathers, whereby the silicate solution absorbs CO₂ from the air. The researchers on board the Belgica will take samples off the coast of Iceland to determine how much CO₂ is captured naturally. A lander, an observational platform with measuring instruments, is left on the ocean floor. Depending on the results, it can then be investigated how silicate weathering can be used in a sustainable way in the fight against climate change and ocean acidification. ‘And especially how we can speed up the process. Because we don’t have much time left.’ Theoretically, the minerals could be dug up and scattered, which would absorb a lot of CO₂. But that is still in the future for the time being. “First we have to see whether there are any negative effects on ecosystems and whether there is support for this,” says Meysman.
A scoter flying overhead and some puffins announce that we have reached our destination. The green-brown coast of Iceland slowly becomes visible on the horizon. Life on board shifts up a gear. The crew prepares the ship to enter Reykjavik harbour. The final preparations are being made in the labs for the measurements around the island, which will last two weeks. On the deck, Belgica veterans stand in silence next to young doctoral students. For a moment the sun shines on the cliffs through the clouds. “At such a moment you feel a bit like Charles Darwin on the Beagle,” says Filip Meysman.
This report was realized with the support of Journalismfund.
