The global and regional oceanographic vessels managed by the Marine Technology Unit (UTM) of the CSIC are the B/O Sarmiento de Gamboa and B/O Garcća del Cid.

UTM is responsible for the management, maintenance and improvement of facilities and equipment related to research activities carried out on oceanographic vessels and polar bases.

The B/O Sarmiento de Gamboa was launched in 2006 and is focused on the study of global ocean circulation, marine biodiversity, fisheries resources and climate change. It has scientific and technical equipment to develop works of Geophysics, Oceanography, Marine Biology and Geochemistry. It also has advanced technologies in terms of navigation systems (such as dynamic positioning) and has been the first Spanish oceanographic vessel in which it was able to work with vehicles operated by remote control (ROV’s, Remote Operated Vehicle) of high depths. It is currently the fleet vessel with the capacity to carry out geophysical campaigns according to the current standards of the prospecting industry.

B/O García del Cid was launched in 1979. It is a vessel used specifically for marine scientific research and is at the service of national or international scientific groups that develop oceanographic research. Its main areas of work are the Western Mediterranean, the Iberian Atlantic area and the Canary Islands. It is based in the port of Barcelona. The ship’s equipment allows marine research in the fields of oceanography, geology and geophysics, as well as experimental fishing research with benthic and pelagic arts, or research of phytoplankton, zooplankton and ictioplankton. The ship is equipped with wet and dry laboratories, portico in stern and chigres for deck work (20 m2), and various acoustic equipment, and has a good maneuvering capacity for mooring and collecting buoys, correntmeters, sediment traps, etc.