Let the countdown to February 11th begin. An exciting day for Belgium's marine research community, as the new research vessel Belgica II will be launched!
At the end of 2019 the bow thrusters and drop keels were installed. These past weeks, the vessel was given a paint job and is now dazzling white.
After more than 30 years of faithful service, the original RV Belgica was in dire need of replacement. It was decided to built a new, modern ánd multidisciplinary research vessel.
This brand new vessel will be operational end 2020 thanks to the cooperation between a number of our coastguard partners: the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, the ministry of Defense and the Science Policy Office.