Something extraordinary is happening in Bergen: The One Ocean Week.
Between the 15th and the 21st of April, there will be many conferences, meetings, workshops, and other activities in the city focusing on promoting and achieving a sustainable use of the ocean. It brings together scientists, business leaders, and decision-makers from both Norway and around the world.
The week kicks off with the return of the tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl after circumnavigating the globe. As Bergen is its home port, thousands of locals and guests will join H.M. King Harald V of Norway to welcome the ship back!
In the past 20 months, Statsraad Lehmkuhl has been on an incredible journey – the One Ocean Expedition. It is part of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and had the goal to both gather new data and insights, and to get people in each port city visited excited about learning new things about the ocean. The ship has been equipped with modern scientific instruments that sampled non-stop for 55.000 nautical miles, while different institutions were responsible for different parts of the trip.
The Nansen Center has been a proud member of the One Ocean Expedition and led the 10-day stretch between Maputo (Mozambique) to Cape Town (South Africa), together with the European Space Agency. 60 students came onboard in January 2023 and together with the crew and course instructors, 30 nations were represented! The students compared satellite data and data gathered from a variety of instruments onboard. The ship sailed along the Agulhas current, one of the strongest currents in the world, flowing along the southeastern part of the African continent. It plays a key role in the global ocean circulation and has a large effect on climate and marine life in the coastal areas around South Africa.
