Marine National Facility

Year in Review 2020–21

Operated by CSIRO, 
Australia’s National Science Agency, 
on behalf of the nation



Citation

Marine National Facility Year in Review 
2020–21 (2021). CSIRO, Australia.

Copyright

© Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research 
Organisation 2021. To the extent permitted by law, all 
rights are reserved and no part of this publication covered 
by copyright may be reproduced or copied in any form or 
by any means except with the written permission of CSIRO.

Important disclaimer

CSIRO advises that the information contained in this 
publication comprises general statements based on 
scientific research. The reader is advised and needs to 
be aware that such information may be incomplete or 
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Acknowledgements

The Marine National Facility (MNF) is funded 
by the Australian Government, and is owned 
and operated by CSIRO, Australia’s national 
science agency, on behalf of the nation. 

CSIRO acknowledges the Traditional Owners of 
the land, sea and waters of the area that we live 
and work across Australia. We acknowledge their 
continuing connection to their culture and we pay 
our respects to their Elders past and present.

This research is 
enabled by NCRIS.

This research is 
supported by the 
Science and Industry 
Endowment Fund.


Cover: RV Investigator (Image: Tauri Minogue) and CTD instrument (Image: Rod Palmer)



Contents

About the MNF............................................................................................................................................1From the Chairperson..............................................................................................................................2From the Director......................................................................................................................................32020–21 snapshot......................................................................................................................................5Health, safety and environment.........................................................................................................6Research delivered and supported..................................................................................................8Map of 2020–21 voyages......................................................................................................................102020–21 voyage schedule.....................................................................................................................11Voyage spotlight: Quantifying Antarctic krill to inform sustainable fisheries management.....................................16Communication and engagement...................................................................................................18Communication case study: Outreach in the time of COVID: Bringing the public on board, virtually.....................19Improving our capabilities....................................................................................................................21Financial statement................................................................................................................................23MNF impact – seabed mapping.......................................................................................................24Looking to the future – INVESTIGATE...........................................................................................26

Image: Kate Kiefer



Image: Lisa Woodward

About the MNF

Australia has the third largest marine jurisdiction of any country and the ocean 
plays an integral role in our climate, culture and economy. Understanding the 
diverse ecosystems and managing industries in this vast area is challenging 
and requires navigational, sampling and data collection capabilities that 
meet the current and emerging needs of a diverse range of users. 

The Marine National Facility (MNF) is Australia’s dedicated 
ocean research capability. It is funded by the Australian 
Government and owned and operated by CSIRO on behalf 
of the nation. The MNF operates under the oversight 
of an independent Steering Committee, and enables 
world-class marine and atmospheric research across 
our vast marine estate. The MNF includes the advanced 
ocean-class research vessel (RV) Investigator, a suite of 
scientific equipment, technical staff and expertise, and 
more than 35 years of freely available marine data.

RV Investigator can flexibly and safely cater to the diverse 
and multidisciplinary research needs of Australian 
marine researchers and their international collaborators. 
It provides a broad range of oceanographic, biological, 
atmospheric and geophysical research capabilities. 
The vessel also offers marine science, technical and 
maritime education and training opportunities. 

RV Investigator is currently funded for full year 
operations and can accommodate a research team of 
up to 40 participants, stay at sea for up to 60 days, 
and cover 10,000 nautical miles per voyage. The vessel 
can operate anywhere from the Antarctic ice edge to 
the tropics. With the delivery in 2020 of the 10‑year 
strategy, MNF 2030, the MNF is on course to fulfil 
its mission to facilitate safe, efficient and excellent 
marine and atmospheric research that is aligned with 
national priorities and addresses challenges facing 
Australia’s society, economy and environment.



From the Chairperson

Implementation of the Marine National Facility’s 
(MNF) milestone strategy, MNF 2030, is well underway. 
By adopting a more pro-active role in the delivery of impact 
by aligning the use of the facility with Australia’s policy, 
science and innovation priorities, MNF will deliver greater 
return on public investment. It will serve to strengthen 
the MNF’s reputation as the trusted custodian and 
operator of the nation’s marine research infrastructure.

The year 2020–21 saw the first round of applications 
for sea time under MNF 2030. MNF 2030 guides the 
use of Australia’s dedicated marine research capability 
for the next 10 years with the primary objective of 
ensuring that value continues to be delivered from 
the significant government investment in the facility. 
MNF 2030 is underpinned by seven strategic priorities: 

• encourage policy-driven research to stimulate 
and support high impact projects
• diversify access to sea time to reflect the 
breadth of needs of our users
• introduce a flexible scheduling approach 
• streamline digital tools for operational efficiency
• implement a MNF 25-year Capability 
Investment Framework to guide strategic 
development of our research capabilities
• enhance our education and training programs in 
collaboration with other agencies and industries
• increase our focus on raising awareness about how the 
research we support benefits Australians and the world.


The inaugural MNF Operations Rolling Plan (the Plan) is 
the primary vehicle to implement MNF 2030. The Plan 
was released in February 2021 to coincide with the 2021 
call for sea time applications. The Plan was designed 
to help prospective users by providing information and 
allocation targets for the access Streams. The Plan also 
outlines operational, communication and engagement 
activities planned for upcoming schedules, including 
any multiyear projects as part of strategic partnerships 
or previous years’ applications. It also sets annual 
operational performance targets for the MNF.

For the 2021 application round, Stream 1 (Policy-driven 
research) access was dedicated to research that would 
directly inform, influence and address the management 
and protection of Australian Marine Parks or improve 
Australia’s Earth system modelling capability. Stream 1 
workshops were held in April 2021 to facilitate 
collaboration between scientists and end-users of their 
research. An Australian Marine Parks focussed workshop 
attracted 24 research participants from 14 organisations 
and a Bureau of Meteorology focussed workshop 
attracted 12 research participants from 6 organisations. 
These workshops generated six Stream 1 applications. 
The 120‑day allocation target for Stream 1 projects in the 
2021 application round represents a significant investment 
in priority research by the MNF on behalf of the nation. 

The 2020–21 MNF Year in Review showcases the continued 
value of the research enabled by the MNF through 
the RV Investigator, its suite of scientific equipment, 
technical expertise, and marine data library. 

The MNF continues to deliver excellent research of benefit 
to the nation through the commitment and enthusiasm 
of the entire MNF team. I want to thank the team for 
the delivery of another full year of operations under 
challenging circumstances, and dedication to ensuring the 
strategic vision articulated in MNF 2030 is well underway.

Dr Sue Barrell
Chairperson, MNF Steering Committee



From the Director

The past year has seen challenges, opportunities, and 
significant change for the Marine National Facility (MNF). 
We’ve introduced new pathways for applicants to access 
sea time and a more flexible approach to the way in which 
MNF schedules successful projects. In addition, the MNF has 
welcomed a new online application tool and implemented 
a COVID-19 Management Framework to ensure the safety 
of our staff, crew and users, all while continuing to deliver 
successful research voyages during a worldwide pandemic. 

MNF returned to sea in July 2020 with a 10-day sea 
trial and calibration voyage. This was followed by the 
resumption of research voyages from the home port 
of Hobart in August 2020 and resumption of interstate 
operations to Brisbane and Darwin in May 2021. Under the 
MNF COVID-19 Management Framework, all future 
voyages will be managed according to a set of protocols 
that have been designed to provide wide‑ranging 
measures to safeguard the health and well-being of 
participants. The Framework is regularly reviewed against 
any change in the COVID-19 situation in Australia.

Our 2021 application round opened in February and saw 
many firsts for the MNF: the first round of applications 
under our new strategy, MNF 2030; the first Operations 
Rolling Plan to guide applicants through the streams 
of access aligned with research priorities; and the first 
use of our online application and planning tool. 

A particularly exciting time for MNF was the launch 
of our online Marine Application and Planning System 
(MAPS). MNF partnered with software engineering 
experts to develop and deliver a tool to transform the 
MNF user experience. MAPS is transformative and 
will deliver significant efficiencies to applicants, Chief 
Scientists and MNF operational teams tasked with voyage 
planning. The transition to MAPS is one of the key 
improvements highlighted under the MNF 2030 strategy.

During 2020, MNF commissioned RTI International, 
an independent, non-profit research institute with a 
vision to address the world’s most critical problems with 
science‑based solutions, to provide an objective analysis 
of the value that MNF delivers to the nation. RTI found 
that RV Investigator’s ability to collect accurate and precise 
bathymetric, biological, atmospheric, and geophysical 
data, provides valuable input to evidence-based decision 
making for resource and risk management strategies 
and offshore activities. The key areas in which MNF 
generates value for the nation includes seabed mapping, 
risk reduction for fisheries, improved reef health and 
ecosystem services, improved protection for marine 
species, shipwreck discovery, and more accurate weather 
and climate forecasting. Additionally, the value of the MNF 
as an “unparalleled” research training facility was evident. 
RTI estimated a conservative benefit-to-cost ratio from 
total investment in the vessel of 4.7. That is, for each dollar 
spent, $4.70 is returned in economic and social benefits 
to the nation. I am honoured to be at the helm of such a 
valuable and valued national research infrastructure asset. 

At the end of this busy and productive year, I would 
particularly like to thank all for their tireless work in 
an extremely challenging operating environment to 
enable the safe delivery of 293 days of operation for 
RV Investigator. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to 
have implications for the way we work. However, through 
the close adherence to our COVID-19 protocols and with 
the hard work, enthusiasm and dedication of the entire 
MNF team, CSIRO technical support and crew from ASP 
Ship Management, we are able to continue to deliver 
marine and atmospheric research to benefit the nation.

Toni Moate
Director, Marine National Facility



Image: William Seal, AAD



MAPS was awarded the Best Contribution to Sustainability or 
Protection of the Environment in the 2021 TasICT Awards for 
ICT Excellence.

2020–21 snapshot

29,814

nautical miles travelled

293

research days

107,118 km2

area mapped

17.3

terrabytes of 
data collected

Number of 
CTD casts

157

Cumulative 
CTD distance

263,241 m

Deepest CTD cast

4,711 m

20

participating 
organisations 

215

participating 
researchers

32

research 
publications*

*peer-reviewed journal 
publications recorded in MNF 
database as at 30 June 2021

MAPS

The Marine Application and Planning System 
(MAPS) successfully launched the online portal 
for sea time applications in February 2021. 
MAPS is a modular technology solution that 
provides a user-friendly, end‑to‑end application 
submission and management system. 

The release of MAPS directly supports MNF 2030 
as applicants nominate their appropriate access 
stream and respond to the key criteria for 
research quality and research benefit within that 
stream. The online application process seamlessly 
connects to additional MAPS modules that manage 
inventory and planning, improving the feasibility 
assessment and voyage scheduling of resources.

This technology solution, together with improved 
business processes, has streamlined the end-to-end 
process for applicants, assessors and CSIRO staff 
providing efficiency, consistency and transparency 
in delivering leading marine and atmospheric 
research for Australia’s national benefit.



Image: Matt Marrison

Image: Breeanna Muggleton

Health, safety and environment

An external Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) 
audit was initiated in 2019 to review Marine National 
Facility (MNF) compliance with ISO45001. This audit 
commended the achievements of the MNF HSE team in 
voyage risk assessment and management. The report 
highlighted several areas for review and consideration 
related to incident reporting and investigation, training, 
compliance assurance and safety management. 

In response to the audit, the MNF HSE team has 
developed robust processes and communication 
pathways in the areas identified. The renewed approach 
has, as anticipated, resulted in a rise in the number 
of incidents reported due to all personnel’s increased 
confidence in identifying and defining a HSE incident. 

The MNF HSE Team has developed a robust Safety 
Management System with a detailed and well-structured, 
centrally located Safety Management Library to provide 
ease of access for all key stakeholders. Procedures have 
been developed to support the roll out and use of the 
Safety Management System, with further work continuing 
to ensure all key stakeholders have a clear understanding of 
their roles and responsibilities regarding safety onboard.

The 2019 audit recommended the need to bridge 
the separate safety management systems in use by 
MNF, CSIRO HSE and the Ship Management Company 
ASP, by developing a ‘One Safe’ approach. One Safe 
is a collaborative cultural change project between 
MNF, CSIRO and ASP to ensure cohesion and effective 
management of safety on RV Investigator. 

The One Safe Project was launched in February 2021 at 
the inaugural HSE Improvement Program Board Meeting, 
held with senior members from MNF, CSIRO and ASP 
and chaired by Toni Moate (Director, MNF). As a result 
of this meeting, independent business analysis was 
undertaken to understand barriers and opportunities 
to improvements in HSE across the key stakeholders. 
A survey was sent to MNF, CSIRO Engineering and 
Technology, and ASP staff. As a secondary measure, key 
personnel from each stakeholder group were invited 
to participate in a one-on-one conversation about HSE. 
The results of the survey and interviews will inform 
the HSE Improvement Program Board’s next steps in 
further developing and implementing One Safe.

Incident Snapshot

2018–19

2019–20

2020–21

Lost Time Injury

0

2

1

Medical Treatment Case

10

12

13

First Aid Case

4

10

19

Illness

5

15

18

Total

19

39

51

Environmental Incidents

0

0

0

Technical Incidents (Equipment 
damage/malfunction)

13

15

19

Near Misses

7

4

2

Total

20

19

21







The current Incident Snapshot illustrates an increase 
in numbers between the reporting periods. This is 
reflective of the operational increase onboard, with 
RV Investigator moving to full year operations. What is 
also of note is the increase in the First Aid and Illness 
incidents, which can be attributed to two key points:

1. The MNF’s response to COVID-19. To recommence and 
maintain the schedule, robust COVID-19 protocols 
have seen an increase in first aid cases. This is an 
indicator of personnel’s understanding of the need to 
be vigilant in reporting any cold and flu symptoms.
2. Incident reporting and investigation. Training has 
been a focus this year with a great deal of effort 
put in to provide access to all CSIRO RV Investigator 
personnel. Training in the form of an in-depth incident 
investigation case study workshop in addition to the 
development of a robust process and communication 
flow chart was delivered in 2020–21. This has seen 
a rise in the number of incidents reported, as 
personnel are more confident in defining an incident. 
Whilst the number of incidents has increased, the 
capacity to effectively investigate and close out these 
incidents has also had a marked improvement, with 
all incidents from 2020 now closed with sufficient 
remediation and lessons learned in place. 


INCIDENT CATEGORY

INCIDENT DETAILS

Lost Time Injury

A Lost Time Injury is defined as an occurrence that resulted in a fatality, permanent disability or time lost 
from work of one day/shift or more.

Medical Treatment Case

A Medical Treatment Case is any work-related loss of consciousness (unless due to ill health), injury or illness 
requiring more than first aid treatment by a physician, dentist, surgeon or registered medical personnel, e.g. 
nurse or paramedic under the standing orders of a physician, or under the specific order of a physician or if 
at sea with no physician on-board could be considered as being in the province of a physician.

First Aid Case

A First Aid Case is defined as any one-time treatment and subsequent observation provided by Ship Staff 
of minor injuries such as bruises, scratches, cuts, burns, splinters, and so forth. The first aid may or may 
not be administered by a physician or registered professional and can be administered on-board. Or the 
administration of drugs by the Medical Officer or Master.

Illness

An illness relates to an illness sustained on-board which is a direct result of the crew member undertaking 
tasks on-board. An example of a recordable illness would be a crew member sustaining a heat rash whilst 
working in the engine room. 

Non-work-related Illness (NWRI) 

An illness sustained on-board the vessel that does not relate to a work-related event, such as cold/flu/dental.





Mental health and wellbeing 

MNF’s goal is to create working and living conditions 
that also safeguard the mental health and wellbeing 
of our people, our partners, and the communities in 
which we operate. RV Investigator is equipped with 
resources to assist with work-life balance at sea. 
The Life at Sea: Wellbeing Hub is comprised of:

• Exercise and stretching worksheets
• Exercise videos
• Crosswords and sudokus
• Group activities
• Magazine subscription for Flourish Health and Wellbeing 
• Hydration challenge
• Mental health and wellbeing resources.


MNF’s HSE Team also deliver a Fatigue Risk Management 
Awareness Module prior to each voyage, highlighting 
the resources and support available, including COVID-19 
protocol information and management resources. 

MNF are committed to ensuring everyone experiences 
a safe, healthy and productive workplace.



Image: Jez Bird

Research delivered 
and supported

July 2020 saw the successful return to 
at‑sea operations of RV Investigator under 
a comprehensive COVID-19 Management 
Framework and strict set of protocols.

In a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of 
both the MNF staff and the user community, 2020–21 
delivered a broad spectrum of research across 
Australia’s marine estate despite the challenges 
associated with at-sea operations in a pandemic. 

Research achieved included: benthic habitat mapping within 
the Huon Marine Park; mapping the seafloor surrounding 
Macquarie Island; quantifying carbon sequestration in 
subpolar and polar waters; investigating the distribution, 
density, and connectivity of populations of Antarctic krill; 
surveying plankton and larval fish off North Stradbroke 
Island; and, assessing the impact of microplastics on 
microbial and planktonic organisms in tropical waters. 
These projects were achieved in parallel to collecting a 
suite of atmospheric observations and deploying assorted 
ocean floats, seismometers and probes in Australian waters.

The MNF also continued to strongly support the 
Integrated Marine Observing System’s (IMOS) 
national research infrastructure through maintenance 
of both the Southern Ocean Time Series (SOTS) 
moorings and East Australian Current moorings. 



Image: Tim Lane

The research delivered and supported has outcomes 
that generate tangible national benefits including:

• creating a framework for better prediction 
and mapping of Huon Marine Park habitats to 
build a framework for better prediction and 
mapping of deep-sea coral communities 
• undertaking the first high-resolution maps of much 
of the seafloor surrounding Macquarie Island, 
including seafloor lying within the island’s Nature 
Reserve and Marine Park to inform Macquarie 
Island Marine Reserve Management Plans 
• enabling better monitoring of earthquakes 
and tsunamis that could affect Australia and 
New Zealand to improve tsunami risk assessments 
and enhance national and trans-Tasman security
• delivering a baseline for carbon export via marine 
snow in the Southern Ocean to validate the strength 
and efficiency of carbon storage by the Southern 
Ocean and inform global carbon cycle models
• informing Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic 
Marine Living Resources sustainable catch limits for the 
krill fishery off East Antarctica to ensure sustainability of 
both the fishery and the Antarctic species that depend on 
krill for their survival including seabirds, seals and whales
• deploying assorted floats and probes to contribute to 
global temperature, salinity, and current research and 
maintaining moorings to contribute to the global effort 
to understand ocean dynamics and their role in climate 
and responses to anthropogenic emissions to ensure that 
Southern Hemisphere oceanographic baselines, cycles 
and processes are well represented in global ocean 
research databases, models and decision-making forums.


Integrated with the busy research schedule, the vessel 
also completed sea trials, tested equipment, and 
commissioned a new deep towed camera system that 
was co-funded by the Science and Industry Endowment 
Fund (SIEF). Several research and outreach projects 
were also supported on the transit voyage from 
Hobart to Brisbane and the MNF hosted our third 
Indigenous Time at Sea Scholarship (ITSS) recipient.

Connecting globally

In addition to contributions to global marine and 
atmospheric datasets, including the Southern Ocean Time 
Series for the Global Ocean Observing System, Southern 
Ocean contributions to the global Argo float network and 
atmospheric observations for the World Meteorological 
Organisations Global Atmosphere Watch Programme, 
MNF supported international researcher engagement 
in voyages, albeit virtually, in real-time in 2020–21. 

Professor Mike Coffin’s (University of Tasmania) voyage 
to Macquarie Ridge (IN2020_V06) included Professor 
Nicholas Rawlinson (University of Cambridge, UK) 
and Professor Joann Stock (California Institute of 
Technology, USA). Professor Rawlinson contributed 
his expertise in the deployment of novel seismic array 
experiments in regions of profound geological/tectonic 
interest to improve our understanding of Earth 
structure and processes. Professor Stock contributed 
her expertise in geological and geophysical field 
studies related to plate boundary evolution. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to have 
implications for the way we work and engage with 
our international collaborators for some time, 
MNF will continue to find ways to engage with 
our global research stakeholders virtually.



Map of 2020–21 voyages



Image: Max McGuire

2020–21 voyage schedule

COVID-19 impact on MNF 
operations in 2020–21

In line with efforts to minimise the spread of COVID-19, 
the MNF took proactive measures to safeguard the health 
of our people, partners, customers and communities. 
These measures had implications for the way voyages 
were scheduled in 2020–21. Due to the on-going and often 
impromptu restrictions placed on interstate travel, and the 
necessity of staying close to our home port of Hobart while 
we established our COVID-19 Management Framework 
protocols, the researchers supported in 2020–21 are largely 
from CSIRO (Hobart) and Tasmanian based institutions.

July 2020

IN2020_E01 Equipment Calibration and Sea 
Trials [Hobart – Hobart]

Following a four-month pause in operations due to the 
COVID-19 pandemic, the MNF restarted at-sea operations 
of RV Investigator on 29 July 2020 with a 10-day sea trials 
and equipment calibration voyage. This voyage calibrated 
ship systems and instruments, and tested protocols for 
safe operation in the current pandemic. All 21 sea-going 
science and technical participants were from CSIRO.

As part of a the COVID-19 Management Framework, 
MNF took the opportunity to trial the COVID-19 
protocols to be applied to all future activities onboard, 
providing wide-ranging measures to safeguard 
the health and well-being of participants. 

August 2020

IN2020_V09 Southern Ocean Time Series: 
automated moorings for climate and 
carbon cycle studies in the Southern Ocean 
[Hobart – Hobart]

The first research voyage since the voyage schedule was 
suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic 
was undertaken in August 2020. In support of the 
Integrated Marine Observing System’s (IMOS) Southern 
Ocean Time Series (SOTS), CSIRO’s Dr Elizabeth Shadwick 
led 13 science participants from CSIRO on a 16-day 
voyage to deploy two new SOTS moorings and recover 
two existing ones. These automated deep-water moorings 
measure the exchanges of heat, water, carbon dioxide and 
oxygen between the ocean and atmosphere. The moorings 
also measure key physical and biological processes that 
control these fluxes and provide a key contribution to 
global data sets to increase the understanding of Southern 
Ocean characteristics, variability and processes. 

The SOTS time series is the longest time series of Southern 
Ocean observations operated by any nation, contributing 
to the global effort to understand ocean dynamics and 
their role in climate and responses to anthropogenic 
emissions. This work is part of the OceanSITES global 
array of time series observations (www.OceanSITES.org), 
an essential element of the United Nations Global 
Ocean Observing System (www.goosocean.org).

Additionally, IN2020_V09 recovered an 
oceanographic mooring deployed during voyage 
IN2018_V05 to investigate Antarctic Circumpolar 
Current (ACC). The ACC mooring collected data to 
improve understanding of how Southern Ocean 
currents respond to changes in wind speed.

During this voyage we also took the opportunity 
to launch three Electromagnetic Autonomous 
Profiling Explorer (EM-APEX) floats and three Argo 
floats on behalf of CSIRO physical oceanographer, 
Dr Stephen Rintoul. EM-APEX floats will measure the 
temperature, salinity, and horizontal current velocity 
in the upper 500 metres of the ocean and the Argo 
floats will contribute to the global Argo network.



Image: Mike Watson 

Image: RVI livestream

October 2020

IN2020_V06 Probing the Australian-Pacific 
Plate Boundary: Macquarie Ridge in 3-D 
[Hobart – Hobart]

Chief Scientist Professor Mike Coffin (University of 
Tasmania) led 20 science participants from three 
institutions (CSIRO, University of Tasmania and the 
Australian National University) on a 24-day voyage to 
the Southern Ocean to study the geological structure 
and evolution of the Macquarie Ridge complex including 
Macquarie Island. Macquarie Island sits at ~55°S on 
the highly active tectonic plate boundary between the 
Australian and Pacific plates and is listed as a World 
Heritage Place because of its unique geological 
exposures of both crustal and mantle rocks.

The voyage’s key outcomes were the first high-resolution 
maps of much of the seafloor surrounding Macquarie 
Island, including seafloor lying within the island’s Nature 
Reserve and Marine Park, and the deployment of the full 
complement of 29 ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) along 
the central Macquarie Ridge complex. The area around 
Macquarie Island is among the most challenging locations 
in the global ocean for an OBS experiment given its 
extreme topography, strong currents, high winds, and high 
seas. This was the first time that Australian Geophysical 
Observing System OBS had been deployed outside 
relatively benign tropical latitudes, and the first time OBS 
had been operationally deployed from RV Investigator. 

The OBS will be recovered following their one-year 
deployment and completion of seafloor mapping along 
the central Macquarie Ridge complex near Macquarie 
Island in late 2021. This research is part of an international 
project involving the University of Cambridge (UK) 
and California Institute of Technology (USA) that will 
enable better monitoring of future earthquakes and 
tsunamis that could affect Australia and New Zealand.

November 2020

IN2020_V10 Storm Bay Modelling and 
Bathymetric and Benthic Habitat mapping 
of the Huon Marine Park [Hobart – Hobart]

CSIRO led a 9-day voyage to Storm Bay and the Huon 
Marine Park to conduct sea trials and test various scientific 
equipment including the Triaxus, Profiling Lagrangian 
Acoustic Optical System (PLAOS), new multi‑corer and 
Hydro-Bios multi net, as well as commission a new 
deep towed camera system. Research undertaken on 
the trials voyage involved 23 science participants from 
CSIRO and included a targeted sampling program 
to characterise the deep water of Storm Bay and its 
nutrient concentration (led by Karen Wild-Allen, CSIRO) 
and benthic habitat mapping within the Huon Marine 
Park (on behalf of Cath Sampson, Parks Australia).

The studies in Storm Bay aim to increase understanding 
of deep-water nutrient concentration. Water samples and 
sensor data will be used to determine whether deep water 
intrusions into Storm Bay have the potential to modify 
water quality. Benthic habitat mapping in the Huon Marine 
Park will be used to help build a framework for better 
prediction and mapping of deep-sea coral communities. 

The voyage received global media coverage when the 
vessel’s livestream camera, which broadcasts video 
24/7 via the MNF website, filmed the spectacular 
break-up of a meteor over the Southern Ocean. 



Image: Jakob Weis

Image: Matt Marrison

Continued overpage

December 2020

IN2020_V08 Southern Ocean Large 
Areal Carbon Export: quantifying carbon 
sequestration in subpolar and polar waters 
[Hobart – Hobart]

Chief Scientist Professor Philip Boyd (University of Tasmania) 
led 32 science participants from four institutions (CSIRO, 
University of Tasmania, Australian National University and 
Curtin University) on a 44-day voyage to the Southern 
Ocean to quantify carbon sequestration in subpolar and 
polar waters. Part of the Southern Ocean Large Area 
Carbon Export (SOLACE) project, this voyage captured a 
detailed picture of how plant life in the Southern Ocean 
removes carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere.

The voyage combined ship-board observations, deep‑diving 
robotic profiling floats, automated ocean gliders and 
satellite measurements at two primary sites (the Southern 
Ocean Time Series site at 47°S and a high chlorophyll polar 
bloom region at ~55°S) to improve understanding of the 
movement of carbon between the atmosphere and ocean 
via biological pathways. A program of trawling was also 
used to survey marine life in the twilight zone (ocean 
between 200 m to 1,000 m depths), an area of the largest 
and least studied fish stocks of the world’s oceans.

Phytoplankton are responsible for removing as much 
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as forests. 
Whenthey die, their carbon-rich particles – marine 
snow – fall slowly to the ocean floor. This pump plays 
a significant role in storing carbon in the ocean. 
This voyage delivered a baseline for carbon export via 
marine snow, which we can track in the coming years as 
the ocean responds to changes in the Earth’s climate. 

Piggyback projects undertaken during this voyage include 
the collection of cosmic ray detector measurements 
to investigate the variation is cosmic ray flux with 
latitude and longitude (led by Dr Grahame Rosolen, 
CSIRO) and the collection of a suite of aerosol, cloud, 
surface radiation, surface eddy momentum, heat and 
moisture fluxes, and precipitation observations in areas 
characterised by high ocean productivity for the Cloud 
Aerosol Precipitation Radiation Interactions eXperiment 
(CAPRIX) team (led by Dr Alain Protat, BOM).

January 2021

IN2021_V01 Trends in Euphausiids off 
Mawson, Predators and Oceanography 
(TEMPO) Voyage: Quantifying krill 
abundance for krill monitoring and 
management off the Australian Antarctic 
Territory [Hobart – Hobart]

The longest voyage of the 2020–21 schedule was the 
60-day Trends in Euphausiids off Mawson, Predators, 
and Oceanography (TEMPO) voyage to the Southern 
Ocean. Chief Scientist Dr So Kawaguchi (Australian 
Antarctic Division) led 31 science participants from 
six institutions (CSIRO, Australian Antarctic Division, 
University of Sydney, University of Tasmania, Woods Hole 
Oceanographic Institution-USA and Shanghai Ocean 
University-China) to investigate the distribution, density 
and connectivity of populations of Antarctic krill. 

The voyage estimated krill biomass in waters off Mawson 
research station, to update the precautionary catch limit 
set by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic 
Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). The voyage surveyed 
more than 793,000 kilometres across six transects off 
Mawson station. RV Investigator’s echosounders located 
and measured krill swarms and a specially designed 
floating camera system was deployed into krill swarms 
to get a 3D picture of how krill orient themselves 
and behave in a swarm. The team also studied the 
broader ecosystem using trawls, predator observations, 
oceanography, genetics, and deep-sea moorings. 
This information will be used to develop a long-term 
monitoring plan to inform management of the krill fishery.



Continued from overpage

Image: Abbie Smith

Image: Max McGuire

The voyage also sought to better understand the 
contribution of deep-sea krill to overall krill biomass in the 
region. The conceptual understanding of krill life history 
in the area has been largely based on research within 
the epipelagic zone (surface to 250 m). However, recent 
observations indicate that krill can exist down to the abyssal 
zone (deeper than 2,000 m). This voyage investigated the 
importance of the deep-sea habitat to krill for the first time.

Piggyback projects undertaken during this voyage 
include the collection of a suite of aerosol, cloud, 
surface radiation, surface eddy momentum, heat and 
moisture fluxes, and precipitation observations in 
areas characterised by high ocean productivity for 
the Cloud Aerosol Precipitation Radiation Interactions 
eXperiment (CAPRIX) team (on behalf of Dr Alain Protat, 
BOM) and the deployment of 12 Argo floats (on behalf 
of Dr Tom Trull and Dr Stephen Rintoul, CSIRO).

April 2021

IN2021_V02 Southern Ocean Time Series: 
automated moorings for climate and 
carbon cycle studies in the Southern Ocean 
[Hobart – Hobart]

In continued support of the Integrated Marine 
Observing System (IMOS) Southern Ocean Time Series 
(SOTS), CSIRO’s Dr Elizabeth Shadwick led 21 science 
participants representing five institutions (CSIRO, 
Australian Antarctic Program Partnership, Bureau of 
Meteorology, University of Tasmania and University of 
Technology Sydney) on a 14-day voyage to maintain the 
SOTS long-term deep-water automated moorings.

Monitoring change to the physics, chemistry and 
biology of the ocean requires sustained collection of 
data over long time periods. The SOTS moorings, at 
47°S, are located where ocean-atmosphere interactions 
are most extreme and where the formation of 
Subantarctic Mode water carries atmospheric carbon 
dioxide and heat into the deep ocean, a process which 
also supplies oxygen for deep ocean ecosystems. 

IN2021_V02 also supported projects to study silica 
production in natural phytoplankton communities 
along a latitudinal gradient off Eastern Australia (led 
by Dr Katherina Petrou, University of Technology 
Sydney), quantify dust deposition to the ocean and its 
chemical and ecological impact using new geochemical 
techniques (led by Associate Professor Zanna Chase, 
University of Tasmania) and trial equipment for MNF.



Image: Jade Arnold

Image: Hannah McCleary

May 2021

IN2021_V03 IMOS: monitoring of East 
Australian Current property transports 
at 27 degrees South (multi-year) 
[Hobart – Brisbane]

The first voyage to venture north for the schedule, saw 
Chief Scientist in training, CSIRO’s Dr Chris Chapman, 
lead a science team of 29 participants from 6 institutions 
(CSIRO, University of New South Wales, Sydney Institute of 
Marine Science, Griffith University, James Cook University 
and University of Queensland) to recover and re-deploy six 
deep-water moorings in waters off Brisbane (27°S) from 
the continental shelf to abyssal waters (500–5,000 m).

Long-term ocean monitoring by the East Australian 
Current deep-water mooring array, a component 
of the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), 
is central to our understanding of the relationship 
between global ocean and climate variability. 

IN2021_V03 also supported projects to survey 
plankton and larval fish off North Stradbroke 
Island to better understand biodiversity and factors 
influencing productivity in continental shelf waters 
(led by Professor Iain Suthers, UNSW), deploy Argo 
floats for the international Argo program (led by 
Dr Beatriz Pena‑Molino, CSIRO), Biogeochemical-Argo 
floats for the Australian contribution to the global 
Biogeochemical-Argo program (led by Dr Peter Strutton, 
UTAS) and Expendable Bathythermographs (XBT) as 
part of the Global Temperature and Salinity Profile 
Programme (GTSPP) (led by Rebecca Cowley, CSIRO). 

June 2021

IN2021_T01 Microplastics in the food chain: 
impact on the microbial and planktonic 
organisms [Brisbane – Darwin]

Chief Scientist, Dr Viena Puigcorbé (Edith Cowan 
University), managed science participants remotely 
on the 12-day transit voyage from Brisbane to Darwin. 
Associate Professor Sophie Leterme (Flinders University) 
led a Supplementary Project to investigate microplastics 
in the food chain and their impact on microbial and 
planktonic organisms. Data collected will contribute to 
an oceanographic model of microplastic distribution and 
movement in Australian waters. Additional piggyback 
projects and an Indigenous Time at Sea Scholarship 
(ITSS) recipient were also supported during the transit:

• Research was undertaken into the link 
between biological carbon pump flux and 
microbial colonisation of sinking particles in 
the Coral Sea for Edith Cowan University
• Flow cytometric classification of the phytoplankton 
community across Australia’s top end was 
investigated for the University of Melbourne
• Dinoflagellate and broader planktonic assemblage 
observation using high-throughput sequencing was 
supported for the Defence Science and Technology Group
• Biogeochemical-Argo (BGC-Argo) floats were 
deployed, cosmic ray data collected, and surface 
sea water dissolved inorganic carbon and total 
alkalinity samples were collected for CSIRO.


MNF is striving to increase access to STEM (science, 
technology, engineering, and mathematics) opportunities 
for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. 
This year, IN2021_T01 supported Breanna Muggleton’s 
(Griffith University) berth on RV Investigator to work 
alongside scientists and technicians, to assist with 
research, and gain valuable at-sea research experience.



Image: So Kawaguchi, AAD

VOYAGE SPOTLIGHT

Quantifying Antarctic 
krill to inform sustainable 
fisheries management

In January 2021, research vessel (RV) 
Investigator departed on a two-month 
voyage to waters off the coast of Mawson 
research station in East Antarctica 
to study a keystone species in the 
Antarctic ecosystem, Antarctic krill. 

The primary objective of the voyage was to 
generate reliable krill biomass estimates for the 
region. These would be used by the Commission 
for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living 
Resources (CCAMLR) to set precautionary catch 
limits for krill in waters off East Antarctica, where 
a commercial fishery is being re-established.



Image: So Kawaguchi, AAD

With changes in technology increasing fishing efficiency 
and impacts from climate change meaning vessels can 
now fish longer and in new areas, it is vital that high 
quality and quantity data is available to inform marine 
resource and fisheries managers and policy makers.

Led by the Australian Antarctic Division, this 
record‑breaking voyage capitalised on both the endurance 
and extensive research capabilities of RV Investigator. 
It saw the ship go further south and further west than 
ever before. Scientists used the advanced acoustic 
systems (echosounders) on board the ship, as well as 
a range of other ship systems and novel technologies, 
to measure krill from all angles in Antarctic waters. 

Significantly, for the first time, surveys were conducted 
to examine krill biomass in the deep ocean down to 
abyssal depths. These surveys used deep-sea moorings, a 
deep‑sea camera and light trap, and water sampling from 
near the sea floor to search for the DNA signature of krill. 
The data collected will greatly increase our understanding 
of the importance of this deep-sea habitat to krill.

Observations of Antarctic predators, such as seabirds, seals 
and whales, were also made to examine the relationship 
between predators and krill distribution and density. 

These studies increase understanding of the relationship 
between krill and predators. This will help fully inform 
the setting of the precautionary catch limit by CCAMLR. 
The research will also contribute towards the design of 
a practical, long-term ecosystem monitoring program, 
that accounts for predators and prey, and the impacts 
of climate change and any future krill fishery.

The multidisciplinary research program conducted on 
this voyage would not be possible without the expertise 
of Marine National Facility (MNF) staff and access to 
the flexible platform that RV Investigator provides. 

The research will contribute meaningfully towards 
a broader understanding of the Antarctic environment 
in which krill live and the species they support. 
Importantly, the data collected will provide 
a more reliable and complete biomass estimate 
for Antarctic krill in the East Antarctic region.

This estimate will allow CCAMLR to set a precautionary 
catch limit for the region. This will help ensure that 
commercial fishing activities leave enough krill for 
Antarctic predators and healthy ecosystem function and 
support the prosperity of our growing blue economy.



20,500

National Science Week 
Facebook Live 
virtual ship tour audience

4,195,194

media reach

4,216,586

social media impressions

1,093

media items (TV, radio, print, 
online and other items)

13,810

livestream views (video started)

Indigenous Time at Sea 
Scholarship (ITSS) students

1 on 1 voyage

250

school students 
receiving broadcasts

Communication and engagement

The MNF is committed to deepening public understanding 
of marine and atmospheric science and raising 
awareness of the MNF’s value and the contribution 
we make to solving our greatest challenges. 

This commitment is embedded in our work and 
demonstrated in the MNF 2030 strategy through 
Pillar 6 – Connecting with Australians and the world. 

MNF communication and engagement activities inform 
community, government and industry of the benefit and 
impact of the research, education and training we deliver. 
We work collaboratively with research partners to deliver 
relevant, accessible and engaging communications to 
share the remarkable stories of our ship, scientists and 
science. In doing so, we demonstrate the significant return 
on investment that the MNF provides to the nation.

The past year saw the MNF strengthen collaborative 
relationships with key partners to amplify the benefit 
and reach of our respective communication activities. 
Accepting the challenges posed by the COVID-19 
operating environment, the MNF has seized the 
opportunity to leverage both our technology and 
stakeholder networks to enhance our capability to 
enable and deliver virtual experiences and outreach.



Image: Matt Marrison

COMMUNICATION AND ENGAGEMENT CASE STUDY

Outreach in the time of COVID: Bringing the public on board, virtually

With COVID-19 putting the brakes on bringing 
people to the ship, the MNF communication and 
outreach team pivoted to take the ship to the people.

To coincide with National Science Week 2020, the MNF 
delivered two ship tours broadcast live via Facebook. 
The tours, led by Dr Ben Arthur, the MNF Stakeholder 
Engagement Coordinator, included staff from MNF vessel 
management and science operations. These events 
offered a chance to showcase and profile to a wide 
audience the ship capabilities, expertise of our people 
and the research that both combine to deliver.

The tours included an opportunity for viewers to ask 
questions of MNF staff in real time, providing the public 
the opportunity to connect directly with our people. 
The result was a successful and highly engaging 
outreach event that achieved more than 400 reactions 
(likes and other responses) and 125 comments on 
Facebook from viewers around the globe. 

Within a month, the two videos had been viewed 
over 10 thousand times each on Facebook.

The pivot to quickly develop and utilise the ship’s 
technological capabilities to deliver virtual experiences 
increase our capability for not only engaging with the 
public but also wider application for engaging with 
researchers on shore and in real time. This supplements 
existing technology, such as the ship livestreams, 
remote science feeds and video broadcast capabilities, 
bringing with it a whole world of opportunity.

These capabilities and their expanding use in the 
future will ensure that the MNF maintains meaningful 
connections with researchers, stakeholders and the 
public anywhere, anytime and under any conditions. 

All you need is a screen and we can bring you on board.



Image: Tauri Minogue



Improving our capabilities

A key principle in the design of 
RV Investigator is modularity and 
research capabilities of the vessel are 
continually evolving as new equipment 
is added and technology is upgraded.

Several enhancements and upgrades are being made 
to the suite of capabilities available on RV Investigator. 
The heavy ocean towing system (HOTS), co-funded by 
the Science and Industry Endowment Fund, will see a 
newly installed fibre optic cable that will allow fully 
instrumented deployments of heavy towed equipment 
down to 6,500 m. Current achievable depths on 
the existing steel (non‑instrumented) wire are up 
to 3,000 m. This enhancement is scheduled to be 
completed in the second half of 2021. This significant 
upgrade is the first step in readying the vessel for 
more advanced deep-water research capabilities.

The deep piston coring capability is also being upgraded 
to allow researchers to safely collect sediment cores up 
to 24 m deep and 6,000 m below the ocean surface. 
The new system includes a new Ocean Scientific 
International Ltd piston corer handler and Triplex corer 
that is more robust and, when combined with the new 
handling system, makes coring operations much safer 
with less manual handling and better recovery of usable 
sediment cores. The combined system is in use on the 
JAMSTEC RV Kaimei, and a similar system has been 
installed on RV Nuyina allowing for inter-operability of 
parts between the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) 
and the MNF. The project is scheduled to be completed 
in the first half of 2021–22 FY. Unfortunately, work 
was delayed because of international border closures, 
which prevented specialist technical attendance 
to install and commission equipment in 2020. 

Each year the MNF develops and implements an Annual 
Capital Procurement (CAPEX) Program to ensure 
equipment, instruments and capabilities remain relevant 
and meet current and emerging needs of researchers. 
During the 2020–21 year, the MNF completed twenty 
projects under the program involving repairs, replacements, 
upgrades and enhancements. Projects included: 

• new Point of Care COVID-19 test machine installed 
in the hospital onboard, allowing immediate 
testing of symptomatic cases while at sea
• upgrades to geoscience capabilities including 
a new Box corer, Karsten corer, and acoustic 
components for the piston corer
• IT upgrades to the PABX and Iridium Certus
• updated trawl nets and balloon launcher 
• development of new molecular biology sampling 
capability on the vessel, including a modular eDNA unit 
to collect samples at depth from the deep tow camera.


On the vessel, improvements to the fixed seismic 
infrastructure have been made to improve modularity 
of this capability. The seismic lines have been rerouted 
to the port side to support efficient transition between 
deployments of large-scale equipment on the back 
deck, in particular transitioning between piston coring 
and seismic operations at sea. Upgrades to the towed 
body winch have been completed with a new 6,000 m 
wire installed. The vertical sediment winch upgrade is 
being finalised and once complete will see an increased 
capability to 6,000 m for deployments from this winch. 



Image: Mike Watson



Financial statement

 

2019–20

2020–21

 

$’000

$’000

External funding

7,745

6,854

Internal funding

26,567

25,956

Total revenue

34,312

32,810

Labour

9,000

9,267

Other operating

23,684

22,338

Total expenditure

32,683

31,604

Operating result*

1,629

1,206

Capital expenditure*

2,314

1,355





* 2020–21 includes $0.961m of externally funded capital expenditure

* 2019–20 includes $1.571m of externally funded capital expenditure



Image: Rod Palmer

MNF impact – seabed mapping

The MNF provides advanced marine and 
atmospheric research capabilities and 
world‑leading expertise to the nation 
through its multidisciplinary ocean 
research platform, RV Investigator. 

Users from all segments of Australian society leverage 
information from RV Investigator to deepen and expand 
our collective understanding of ocean ecosystems, 
climate, and weather changes (especially in the Southern 
Ocean), fisheries and other important research areas. 
The data generated by MNF plays a critical role in 
evidence-based decision making, resource and risk 
management strategies and offshore activities.

In 2020, CSIRO commissioned RTI International, 
an independent, non-profit research institute, to 
undertake an objective analysis of the value of the 
multidisciplinary research MNF delivers. RTI undertook 
surveys of participants and economic case studies and 
concluded that the median net present value generated 
to Australian society from RV Investigator was $2.4 billion. 
They estimated the mean benefit-to-cost ratio to 
be 4.7. In effect, every $1 invested in RV Investigator 
and its operations delivers $4.70 in social value.



One of the key areas of MNF’s impact identified by 
RTI International is its contribution to Australian 
seabed mapping. RV Investigator possesses specialised 
instrumentation that allows bathymetric, biological, 
and geophysical data to be collected in three 
dimensions. All data collected are made publicly 
available. These data have been used to improve the 
management of vital ecosystems in Southern Australia, 
improve economic outcomes from offshore industries 
such as energy exploration and fishing, enable the 
reduction of the risk of environmental degradation 
by expanding our knowledge of sensitive marine 
ecosystems and contribute nearly 50% of the Australian 
seabed mapped (1.26 million km2 of 2.54 million km2) 
to the AusSeabed effort to improve the awareness, 
coverage, quality, discoverability and accessibility 
of mapped seabed data in the Australian region. 

Estimated benefits of these contributions alone are 
$2.7 billion through to 2029–30, with the greatest benefits 
($2.1 billion) coming from improved commercial outcomes 
in the fishing and aquaculture industries. RV Investigator is a 
demonstrably valuable and productive element of research 
infrastructure for Australia’s people and economy. 

KEY RESEARCH 

Sampling the Abyss

Gunton et al. 2021. Annelids of the eastern Australian abyss collected by the 2017 RV Investigator voyage. 
ZooKeys 1020: 1-198 doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1020.57921

Thirty co-authors representing 19 organisations from 
12 countries compiled a comprehensive taxonomic list of 
Australian benthic invertebrate fauna collected from the 
deep sea, the least explored environment on our planet. 
RV Investigator enabled the collection of deep-water (900 to 
4,800 m) benthic fauna at one-degree intervals along the 
eastern Australian margin from Tasmania, 42°S, to southern 
Queensland, 24°S. A total of more than 6,000 annelid 
specimens consisting of 50 families and 214 species were 
recovered. Of these, 55 species were considered new to 
science. This work provides critical baseline biodiversity 
data on an important group of benthic invertebrates 
from a virtually unknown region of the world’s ocean.

The new era for deep-sea biological exploration in 
Australia began in 2014 with the launch of RV Investigator, 
the first Australian research vessel equipped to routinely 
perform biological sampling to depths of 5,000 m. 
In Australia, the abyssal plain and deep ocean floor covers 
2.8 million km2, or 30% of Australia’s marine territory. 
RV Investigator’s 2017 ‘Sampling the Abyss’ voyage, the 
first dedicated deep-sea voyage to perform a systematic 
biological survey along the eastern Australian coast, 
generated a valuable set of annelid specimens that were 
part of an Australian Museum (AM), Museums Victoria (MV) 
and Natural History Museum (NHMUK) collaboration. 

Prior to 2017, only two annelid species were described 
from below 2,000 m, consequently this research vastly 
increases our knowledge of deep-water annelids. 
Furthermore, because all material from this study 
is retained in properly curated museum collections 
(AM, MV, NHMUK) and a significant proportion has 
been preserved for molecular studies, these valuable 
samples are easily accessible and can be used for 
answering important questions on taxonomy and 
species’ ranges along the eastern Australian margin 
including seven deep-water Marine Parks.



Exterior artwork for INVESTIGATE outreach container

Looking to the future – 
INVESTIGATE

The MNF is committed to deepening the public’s understanding of 
marine and atmospheric research, especially for those unable to get 
onboard RV Investigator themselves. As we seek to make research more 
accessible through appealing and creative storytelling that showcases 
our contribution, impact, and value, we’ve commissioned INVESTIGATE.

INVESTIGATE is a stand-alone shipping container that 
will serve as a travelling outreach tool (see below for an 
artist’s impression of the exterior design). Designed to 
inspire, engage, and educate, INVESTIGATE is designed 
to be an immersive experience encouraging users 
to explore Australia’s vast marine estate and the key 
role that the MNF plays within it. With our access 
to world‑class technology, knowledge, and human 
resources, INVESTIGATE will use these capabilities to 
deliver a dynamic resource that demands attention. 

With at‑sea operations taking RV Investigator to ports 
around Australia, INVESTIGATE will be used both alongside 
the vessel to create a hub for community engagement 
by capitalising on the invaluable tool that the vessel 
offers to capture people’s interest. INVESTIGATE will 
extend our outreach beyond the physical location of the 
vessel, to educate and engage students and the public at 
museums and educational facilities across the country. 

As a way for the Australian public and school students 
to engage with marine and atmospheric research in a 
contemporary way, INVESTIGATE tells the story of Australia’s 
blue-water marine and atmospheric research and its 
impact. It is an invitation to investigate a little deeper. 



Image: Ella Pietraroia