SERPENT Cruise Reports 2007

The SERPENT Project, Scientific & Environmental ROV Partnership using Existing iNdustrial Technology, is a collaboration between world leading scientific institutions and companies associated with the oil and gas industry. SERPENT is hosted at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS), one of the worlds’ largest research and teaching organisations specialising in deep-sea science and oceanography. SERPENT encompasses a scientific network of academic partners across the world (USA, Canada, Brazil, Africa, Australia), linked to a network of major oil and gas operators and contractors. The project centres around the opportunistic use of ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) in operational settings during periods of stand-by time. The project also aims to maximise the scientific benefit of environmental data collected as part of routine offshore operations and environmental surveys. Through access to ROVs and such environmental data scientists at NOCS and from the wider SERPENT partnership aim to improve the scientific understanding of the deep-sea's biodiversity in all its aspects. This document presents the cruise reports for SERPENT missions carried out in 2007 and includes a history of all previous SERPENT missions and a list of samples taken during the project to date.