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Research vessels

A ship used for scientific research or seabed and hydrographic survey. Voydar tracks 362 ships of this type by IMO number, 62 of them heard on AIS in the last 7 days.

Ship types explained

Largest research vessels by gross tonnage

Gross tonnage measures a ship's enclosed volume, not its weight. From the ship's registered particulars (Wikidata, EU MRV and other public sources).

ShipGTBuiltFlagLast AIS
Ramform Titan20,6372013BahamasOct 1, 2026, 15:20 UTC
REV Ocean19,2352024—not on AIS
Xue Long15,3521993ChinaSep 13, 2026, 08:31 UTC
SIR D. ATTENBOROUGH15,0002019Falkland IslandsOct 1, 2026, 20:54 UTC
Hai Yang Shi You 72013,0612011—not on AIS
AKADEMIK FEDEROV12,6601987RussiaOct 1, 2026, 21:27 UTC
POLARSTERN12,6141982GermanyAug 27, 2026, 01:46 UTC
Oceanic Vega12,5502010—not on AIS
Xue Long 212,3662019Chinanot on AIS
IMO 860718910,0431988—not on AIS

Newest research vessels

By year built, from the ship's registered particulars.

ShipGTBuiltFlagLast AIS
REV Ocean19,2352024—not on AIS
Odón de Buen—2024SpainSep 29, 2026, 04:45 UTC
Uthörn4112023—not on AIS
Taani—2023—not on AIS
SEVERNIY POLUS—2022RussiaOct 1, 2026, 21:24 UTC
NORDSOEN—2022DenmarkSep 25, 2026, 15:53 UTC
Tarajoq2,8962021GreenlandOct 1, 2026, 17:36 UTC
SIR D. ATTENBOROUGH15,0002019Falkland IslandsOct 1, 2026, 20:54 UTC
Xue Long 212,3662019Chinanot on AIS
Shen Hai Yi Hao4,7002019—not on AIS

Flags

The flags research vessels in Voydar's records sail under most often.

Recently seen on AIS