RV Maria Merian, Germany

The RV Maria S. Merian is a German deep ocean research vessel from 2006. It has a StirLIN-1 Economy on board to supply liquid nitrogen for the researchers on board.

RV Maria S. Merian is Germany’s second most modern research vessel, named after the naturalist and illustrator Maria Sybilla Merian. The Merian was financed by the German government and is assigned to the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research at Warnemünde, with Rostock as its home port. It is also available to several other German research institutes. Its tasks are Arctic research, research on the Gulf Stream, and seabed research to a depth of 10 km. It is manned by a crew of 21 persons, and can additionally accommodate 22 scientists. The vessel is equipped with several laboratories. It has room for 150 tons of additional scientific equipment in accessible containers, providing flexibility in research assignments.[3]

The ship is equipped with two azimuth thrusters, a lateral pump-jet, and satellite navigation, enabling it to automatically maintain an exact position. It can operate without any polluting emissions for 48 hours, allowing it to conduct research in ecologically sensitive areas. The Merian is capable of operating in near-polar regions and can handle drift ice up to a thickness of 50 cm. It is 94.80 m long, 19.20 m wide, and has a maximum draft of 6.50 m. Flank speed is 15 knots (28 km/h), and range is up to 7.500 nautical miles (13.900 km) and 35 days.

On board a StirLIN-1 Economy liquid nitrogen system has been installed to supply LN₂ to the researchers. On previous vessels, LN₂ was taken on board in (large) dewars. however this required a lot of space, had limited storage time and was difficult to refill while sailing. With a stand-alone LN₂ system, the ship is fully self sufficient.