NOAA Ocean Exploration Operations on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer

The control room on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer during a remotely operated vehicle dive.

Current Operations:

Voyage to the Ridge 2022 Expedition 1: Mapping Operations

May through August 2022, NOAA and partners will conduct Voyage to the Ridge 2022, a series of three, telepresence-enabled ocean exploration expeditions on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer that will include mapping operations and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives to collect baseline information about unexplored and poorly understood deepwater areas of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Azores Plateau, and Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone.

The first Voyage to the Ridge 2022 expedition, from May 14 - June 7, will include mapping operations to collect acoustic data of seafloor and sub-seafloor geomorphology and water column habitats of the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The collection of high-resolution mapping data is a key element of every NOAA Ocean Exploration expedition on Okeanos Explorer and mapping data will be instrumental to planning subsequent ROV dives, which will begin on June 16.