Roughly one-third of the way across the Atlantic, an uncrewed vessel is steadily carving a new chapter in maritime science.
The Caravel, an autonomous surface vehicle that departed Porto de Leixões on July 20 bound for the Azores, has now completed approximately 30 percent of its transatlantic voyage, according to the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD). Far more than a technological demonstration, the mission represents an ambitious step toward transforming the way the Atlantic Ocean is observed, studied, and understood.
Designed to navigate the open ocean without a crew on board, the Caravel is undertaking a real-world test of technologies that could redefine long-duration scientific missions at sea. Throughout the crossing, researchers are evaluating the platform’s endurance, autonomous navigation capabilities, remote communication systems, and its ability to continuously collect high-quality scientific data under genuine oceanic conditions.
Although the vessel sails independently, it is far from unattended. Engineers and scientists monitor every stage of the voyage from the Ocean Space Center, located at the Underwater Systems and Technology Laboratory (LSTS) of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP). From this control center, researchers receive incoming data, supervise operations, and adapt the mission in response to changing oceanographic and meteorological conditions.
The Caravel was developed within the JUNO – Robotic Exploration of Atlantic Waters project, led by Renato Mendes, a researcher at the Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (INEGI) and recipient of the 2021 FLAD Science Award Atlantic. Accompanied by a €300,000 research grant, the award enabled the development of the project over three years.
The initiative brings together an exceptional multidisciplinary partnership that includes INEGI, +ATLANTIC – Collaborative Laboratory for the Atlantic, LSTS-FEUP, and Professor Pierre Lermusiaux of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Their collaboration merges expertise in engineering, maritime robotics, oceanography, numerical ocean modeling, and remote mission operations.
At the heart of the Caravel’s innovation lies its remarkable energy system. Built upon an AutoNaut platform, the vessel harnesses the mechanical energy generated by ocean waves to propel itself, while solar panels provide electricity to its scientific instruments, communication equipment, and onboard electronics. Without relying on conventional engines or fossil fuels, the Caravel operates almost silently, dramatically reducing both operational costs and environmental impact.
These characteristics make it especially well suited for prolonged missions in remote or environmentally sensitive marine environments, including protected ocean areas where conventional research vessels may be impractical or prohibitively expensive.
Its scientific payload rivals that of much larger research ships. The Caravel carries a weather station, temperature and salinity sensors, an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) for measuring ocean currents, and instruments capable of monitoring dissolved oxygen, turbidity, chlorophyll concentrations, and organic matter. Together, these sensors provide a comprehensive picture of both atmospheric and oceanographic conditions throughout the voyage.
One of the project’s principal scientific ambitions is to observe dynamic ocean processes that traditional expeditions often miss. Ocean fronts, rapidly changing temperature and salinity gradients, small-scale eddies, internal waves, and floating debris accumulation zones frequently evolve over areas smaller than ten kilometers and may persist for only a few days. Because conventional research vessels can observe these phenomena only while physically present, much of their evolution remains undocumented.
The Caravel changes that paradigm. Its ability to remain continuously at sea for extended periods allows scientists to monitor transient ocean events as they unfold, generating observations with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution.
The information gathered promises to deepen scientific understanding of climate change, marine pollution, ocean ecosystem dynamics, and the sustainable management of marine resources. The JUNO project is also developing advanced software capable of optimizing navigation routes, minimizing maritime risks, tracking moving oceanographic phenomena, and integrating field observations with satellite imagery and sophisticated numerical models.
FLAD views the mission as a significant contribution to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030), highlighting the growing importance of autonomous platforms in complementing traditional oceanographic research while dramatically expanding the collection and sharing of scientific knowledge about the Atlantic Ocean.
The mission is supported by an extensive network of Portuguese institutions, including the Portuguese Navy, the Hydrographic Institute, the Port Administration of Douro, Leixões and Viana do Castelo (APDL), the Portuguese Space Agency, the Azores Sea School, and OKEANOS – Institute of Marine Sciences, among numerous national and international partners.
As the Caravel continues its quiet voyage westward toward the Azores, propelled not by fuel but by the ceaseless rhythm of the Atlantic itself, it carries more than sophisticated instruments across the ocean. It embodies a new vision for maritime science—one in which sustainable technology, international collaboration, and autonomous innovation combine to reveal the hidden dynamics of one of the world’s most important oceans.
Based on a story in Diário dos Açores-Paulo Vivieiros-director-Illustration from DA.