10 Cruise Report, RV ATAIR, Cruise 067I033-1, Bremerhaven – Thybor?n – Aberdeen, 23 Jul – 15 Aug 2024
leg 2 of cruise 067I033-1. After leaving Thybor?n, recording of underway data was resumed
after crossing the 3 nm-limits of Denmark, and station work followed the 8°E longitude towards
the north. Three more surface drifters (EDDY) were deployed en route on the stations
#063/GN039S to #065/GN040 while crossing the Norwegian Trench. The northernmost point
of this section, located south of Norway, was reached at station #062/GN040 on 9 August.
Afterwards, the vessel headed towards the west and followed the 58°N latitude from Norway
towards the British coast (stations #066/GN040S to #079/GN045A). The western end of the
section off the Moray Firth (#080/GN045C) was reached on 11 August.
After finishing the measurements at 58°N, the vessel took a north-eastern course to take meas-
urements along a line from the Moray Firth to the Shetland Islands. This route passed the
Orkney Islands to the east. The last four drifters (EDDY 2087, 2086, 2085 and 2083) were
deployed at stations #082/GN046B to #085/GN053C on 11–12 August. On 12 August, the
northernmost standard station of the cruise (#086/GN53A) was reached. This station is located
directly to the south of the Shetland Islands and typically shows the strongest oceanic flow
conditions at depth. While the CTD cast was being conducted, the crew of the HM Coast
Guard's search-and-rescue helicopter stationed on Shetland asked to carry out training ma-
noeuvres directly above the vessel. The CTD cast was therefore interrupted, and the water
sampler was brought back on deck. The cast was repeated once the manoeuvre had finished.
After completing its work at the station south of the Shetland Islands, the vessel reached 60°N
on the eastern side of the islands. However, weather conditions had started to worsen signifi-
cantly. Southeasterly winds of 8–10 Beaufort and high seas prevented any further station work.
With the recording of underway measurements still switched on, the vessel attempted to follow
60°N until, on 12 August at 19:20 UTC, it was decided that it would be impossible to continue
carrying out measurements at this latitude. Instead, the vessel changed course to head south
again in order to reach latitude 59°N. Station work resumed at station #087/GN048 on 13 Au-
gust. The final stations were surveyed along the 59°N line in a westerly direction. Station
#092/GN046A was the last station to be surveyed and the only station visited twice during the
cruise.
The continuous logging of underway data was stopped at around 19:30 UTC on 14 August,
marking the end of the scientific mission of cruise 067I033-1 with RV ATAIR. The vessel arrived
at the pilot station of Aberdeen at 13:15 UTC on 15 August and took on a pilot. The vessel was
finally towed to Blaikies Quay No. 2 in the Port of Aberdeen, UK, at 13:22 UTC, marking the
end of cruise 067I033-1.
The port stay in Aberdeen was used for the disembarkation of the scientific participants and
crew members of cruise 067I033-1, as well as the embarkation of the participants of the
subsequent cruise 067I033-2 (chief scienstist Dr. Torben Kirchgeorg, BSH) and the installation
of the necessary laboratory equipment and instrumentation.