The Marine Institute is now accepting applications for ship-time on board the two national research vessels, RV Celtic Voyager and RV Celtic Explorer for the 2009 survey season.  Applications for funding towards vessel time are also welcome under the 2009 Ship-Time Programme.  

To apply for ship-time on the RV Celtic Explorer or the RV Celtic Voyager, the chief scientist should complete the Ship-time Application Form and submit it to Research Vessel Operations before the 10th October 2008. Each application will be reviewed and the chief scientist will be informed as soon as possible whether the ship-time they requested is available.  If the requested ship-time is not available, alternative dates will be offered. 

The Guidelines to Ship-time Applicants should be read carefully before submitting the Ship-time application form. If your survey is eligible for funding and you wish to apply for same, you should also complete the Funding Section of the Ship-time Application Form.  View the funding pages of our website for more details on available funding and eligibility or download the Guidelines to Funding Applicants. 

Closing Date for receipt of applications is October 10th 2008.

Survey schedules can change during the year, therefore please contact RV Operations to check whether any survey slots remain for 2008 or to be notified if any dates become available.

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Notes to Editor:

The Marine Institute operates two purpose built research vessels, the RV Celtic Explorer and the RV Celtic Voyager.

The 65m long RV Celtic Explorer is a highly sophisticated low-noise multipurpose research vessel designed for undertaking a wide array of offshore and deep-sea survey operations.

The RV Celtic Voyager is a 31.4m multipurpose vessel suited to coastal research and offshore survey operations. Both vessels are fully equipped with state-of-the-art scientific instrumentation, laboratories and IT equipment and are used for a variety of applications including fisheries research, environmental monitoring, seabed mapping, oceanology, seismic surveys, student training and meteorological investigations.  

The current vessels' schedules can be accessed online.