Ferries in operational oceanography — The German Ferry Box project

The project “Ferry Box” is targeted on an improvement of marine monitoring technologies. It originated from considerations and discussions within the Technology Plan Working Group (TPWG) of EuroGOOS and is aimed at the development of an operational autonomous measuring system for ferries, which is capable to monitor water quality parameters automatically along the routes of the ships through the coastal waters. In Germany this development is considered as an innovative addition to the already existing and operational monitoring concept (“MARNET” concept) in German coastal waters at fixed positions and stations with buoys or platforms, operated by BSH (“Bundesanstalt fuer Seeschiff fahrt und Hydrographie”, Hamburg), the German Hydrographic Office. The development therefore is funded as an R&D-project by the German Ministry for Research and Technology (BMBF) .