Global Oceans has developed an operational model for adaptively mobilizing time-chartered ships and other resources from the commercial offshore sector as scientific research platforms, to fill capacity gaps, and expand access to remote regions and the deep sea for science and exploration. The model is called MARV, for Modular Adaptive Research Vessel, and it leverages a worldwide pool of private-sector assets – ships, modular workspace systems, port services management, other resources – that can be chartered, rented and adapted on a project basis for scientific research.

MARVs are an alternative, routinely deployable paradigm for expanding fully functional at-sea ocean science capacity on manned vessels. It is an infrastructure model for ocean science that is nimble, scalable, adaptive, lower cost, and non-capital intensive. MARVs also enable greater capacity to execute projects that require intensive, multi-expedition, multi-year deployments of research capacity and specialized equipment to support large-scale regional and global surveys, monitoring, mapping, resource assessments, modeling studies, and ecosystem assessments across all spatial dimensions and seasons.

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