About the Oceanographic Platform Coordination (COPO)
The Oceanographic Platform Coordination (COPO) was created in the year 2000. It is the body responsible for driving and promoting marine science research in Mexico and the management, logistics, execution, and supervision of the research vessels (R/V) El Puma and Justo Sierra, properties of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
El Puma and the Justo Sierra are vessels designed and built at the beginning of the 1980s to carry out oceanographic research aimed to offer to provide well-equipped and functional platforms for the development of the marine sciences in Mexico.
Since their construction, 745 cruises have been completed, 374 on the R/V El Puma and 371 on the R/V Justo Sierra. The work done aboard has served the scientific research in a variety of topics that include biodiversity, marine resources, pollution, ocean circulation, climate change, marine chemistry, to cite a few.
Utilizing the vessel’s capabilities, it has been possible to identify areas of high productivity, methane emission sites, oil seeps, and other energy resources in the deep sea. Furthermore, it has also been possible to search for submerged archeological remains, collect organisms from the water column and benthos, and collect sediment cores to understand climate variability throughout the Earth’s evolution. Other activities made possible by the vessels include sampling seawater at different depths to determine the oceans’ physical and chemical properties and acquiring data, and deploying instruments to study bathymetry.
El Puma sails from the port of Mazatlán destined for the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California with a group of scientists aboard. On the other side of the Mexican territory, the Justo Sierra sails from the Tuxpan River towards the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Both with the same mission: to contribute to the understanding of the Mexican seas.
The COPO receives around 70% of the vessels’ operations and maintenance funds from the UNAM budget in its duty as shipowner.
The COPO is responsible for the operations of both research vessels, their maintenance, and the renovation of their equipment to satisfy the necessities of current science. El Puma and the Justo Sierra remain necessary infrastructures for oceanographic research and human resource training.
The development of multidisciplinary oceanographic cruises aboard the UNAM vessels acts as a national bonding agent because a high majority of the national institutes linked to the sea use them.
Oceanographic Vessels: General Information
Design: They were designed to undertake operations in diverse oceanographic disciplines (physics, biology, geology, and chemistry) and marine geophysics.
Classification: They are classified under the Social Class Bureau Veritas and fulfill the norms set forth by MARPOL (Marine Pollution) and SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea).
Competitiveness: They compete at an international level. Their advanced automated control system allows for a significantly reduced crew (15 people) that can operate under different marine and atmospheric weather conditions thanks to its maneuverable design. The platforms are highly versatile, efficient, and maneuverable, offering optimal work conditions and accommodations for a scientist group of up to 20 people.
Environmental conservation: The ships are subject to the strictest waste dumping management rules; their automated oily water separation systems allow them to control waste discharges. Additionally, they have a fire suppression system based on clean Inergen that is environmentally and ozone friendly.
Statistics
Information subject to change
This information is updated based on the cruises carried out. For this reason, it is subject to constant change.
Until 2021
El Puma
41 Years of service
Justo Sierra
39 Years of service
Total of cruises
Cruises made by chartering
Sailed miles
Cruises made by the UNAM dependencies
Sailed days
Cruises participants
El Puma
4 UNAM Dependencies
15 External Institutions
10 Charting companies or institutions
Justo Sierra
4 UNAM Dependencies
12 External Institutions
11 Charting companies or institutions
People involved
Participant entities
Background
The origin of the research vessels started in the 1970s when Mexico established its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends 200 nautical miles (372 km) into the deep sea from the coastline and around islands on both sides of its shorelines.
With this right, Mexico assumed the responsibility of preserving and researching the resources of this maritime zone. Still, there wasn’t any scientific institution in the country during those years with resources to allow their oceanographers, biologists, physicists, geologists, and other specialists to venture into the seas.
In 1979, UNAM dean Dr. Guillermo Soberón Acevedo, with the authorization of the Mexican government, approved the acquisition of the R/V El Puma for research in the Mexican seas.
El Puma was built in the Mjellem & Karlsen shipyard in Bergen, Norway, in 1980 and two years later, the Justo Sierra. Its operation started with a tripartite partnership framework that involved the UNAM, PEMEX (Mexican Oil Company), and the National Science and Technology Council (CONACyT) that lasted a decade.
Dr. Ingvar Emilsson (1926-2016), an Icelandic physical oceanographer, came to Mexico at the beginning of the 1970s as a UNESCO scientific adviser and was part of the committee that participated in the design of the vessels and the supervision of their construction in the Bergen shipyard. Dr. Emilsson was the former director of the COPO from August 1994 to October 2016.
Mission / Vision / Objectives
Mission
Support marine science research in the Mexican seas.
Vision
To be a strategic platform for Mexican marine environment knowledge, its utilization, development, and integral conservation. To provide user support with the commitment of having efficient processes in a continuously improving framework and modernized infrastructure.
Objectives
– Propel and promote marine science research in both of the country’s coastlines, above all else, in the areas designated as Mexican Exclusive Economic Zones.
– Coordinate, promote, and assure the operation and maintenance of the oceanographic vessels to use them as good and efficient platforms for scientific marine research development.
– Foster oceanographic platform infrastructure modernization in line with the necessities for marine science development and university guidelines.