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S/Y Eugen Seibold in Tropical America How to COLLABORATE

The S/Y Eugen Seibold is the Max Planck Society for Chemistry's (MPIC) world-class “sustainable” research yacht, offering contamination-free and continuous sampling and analyses of seawater, plankton, and air.

From early 2023, the S/Y Eugen Seibold will be in Latin America. It will dock on the Pacific side of Panama in collaboration with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), from where it will explore the Tropical Eastern Pacific until 2025.

During this time, MPIC and STRI are seeking scientists to collaborate and conduct research using the S/Y Eugen Seibold. If you or your team would like to make use of this boat in the region to conduct your own research, please submit a short proposal (details below).

MPIC and STRI work purely on a collaborative basis, and therefore research on the boat will not incur any fees. However, it is expected that visiting scientists bring their own consumables necessary to conduct their research.

The vessel

Photo credit (cover and above): MPIC and MPG

The S/Y Eugen Seibold is a versatile research yacht that hosts state-of-the-art oceanographic and air monitoring and sampling equipment onboard. Visit this website for an in-depth exploration of the boat's capabilities: https://www.wernersiemens-stiftung.ch/en/projects/research-yacht-eugen-seibold

Brief specifications of the S/Y Eugen Seibold

  • Model Explorer 72; Overall length - 22 m (72 feet)
  • 8 berths (i.e. max. 2-3 crew, 1-2 staff scientists, plus 2-5 guest scientists )
  • Draught 3.5 m (11.5 feet)
  • Autonomy up to 3 weeks
  • 50 % of the interior is laboratories including a wet lab, dry lab, and atmosphere lab
  • Continuous air/water sampling of: Temperature, Conductivity, pH, Turbidity, CDOM concentration, Chlorophyll a, Phycocyanin, Photosynthetic activity, Plankton counts and optical characterization, Irradiance, Nitrate, Particle size distribution, Polycyclic aromatic compounds, Dissolved Argon, DO, Dissolved Nitrogen, aerosol particles, black carbon monitoring, bioaerosols, etc
  • Full list of sensors and devices are listed in the image and in this pdf

Preliminary plans

The S/Y Eugen Seibold was designed, built, and run on the concept of flexibility. This allows scientists to take advantage of events that would otherwise be missed by research boats whose schedules are inflexible. The boat's small size also means it can work in shallow coastal areas as well as on the open ocean. Thus, the resulting schedule for the boat's time in the Tropical Eastern Pacific will also be flexible. The current preliminary plans are listed below.

  • The boat will sail from Western Africa in late 2022 and will cross the Caribbean Sea, sampling along the way.
  • In late January/early February 2023, it will arrive in Colón, Panamá and transit the Panamá Canal.
  • At the end of January / beginning of February 2023, the boat will arrive at STRI's Naos station in the Panamanian Pacific.
  • In February and March 2023, it will work in the Gulf of Panama making various multi-day trips.
  • During 2023, 2024, and 2025 the boat will conduct repeated, large-scale expeditions across the Pacific. There may be opportunities for other researchers to join the boat during these cruises.
  • In addition, the boat will visit Costa Rica and other Latin American Pacific countries. Other sites in the Tropical Eastern Pacific will be considered in the proposals. Upon the boat's exodus from the Tropical Eastern Pacific in 2025, the boat will plan to sail through Bocas del Toro for potential sampling in that region.
  • Within this general three-year plan, there will be many weeks when the boat will be available for use and can travel to different sites. You can propose to work anywhere in the region.
Preliminary locations of study of the S/Y Eugen Seibold in Tropical America 2023-2025

How to request boat time

Submit a short proposal to request boat time between 2023 and 2025. Proposals can be in English or Español. Please prepare your proposal using these guidelines:

Proposal format

  • Title of project
  • Names, institutions, and positions of PI(s), and their specific roles and expertise.
  • Proposed dates or timeline for the cruise(s) with an indication of your flexibility on these dates.
  • Brief description of locations you wish to visit, with a map.
  • Summary of the project's major objectives with citations to place in broader significance (max 500 words).
  • Summary of how your proposed research fits with the objectives of S/Y Eugen Seibold and the mission of STRI (max 300 words)
  • Summary of methodology and equipment to be used. Please provide the following (1) A list the boat's equipment (see above) that you would use and why. (2) A list of equipment you would bring on board, with size and weight specifications, and why it is needed. (3) A summary or list of the number and types of samples you plan to take.
  • Summary of status of research permits needed to complete the proposed research (<100 words).
  • List of proposed researchers who will be on the vessel.
  • CV's of PIs

A budget is not needed. Research on the boat will not incur fees although visiting scientists should bring their own consumables necessary to conduct the research.

NOTE: Scientists will provide a cruise schedule as part of this proposal. However, the final cruise schedule will be approved by the Captain of the boat, who is in charge of boat logistics. Final schedules will be contingent on weather forecasts.

When and were to send proposals

Submit this proposal in pdf format to: strieugenseibold@gmail.com

Proposals will still be accepted on a rolling basis for the duration of boat's time in tropical America (2023 - 2025), but we will begin to review proposals on December 10th 2022 and proposals will be given priority in order of reception date.

The selection process

Proposals will be selected based on scientific merit, research scope, and scheduling logistics by a small committee of scientists and administrators at MPIC and STRI.

Both MPIC and STRI are looking forward to collaborative project proposals. Both institutions expect to be included in future scientific discussions and the preparation of publications that use data collected on expeditions.

Photo credits: MPIC, MPG, and Felix Wey

Further information

CONTACTS: MPIC - Ralf Schiebel and Christopher Pöhlker; STRI - Aaron O'Dea and Jon Cybulski at: strieugenseibold@gmail.com

Photo credit: Felix Wey