Our vessels

RV «Prinsesse Ingrid Alexandra» was designed by LMG Marin AS in Bergen and built by Holland Shipyards Group. The vessel arrived in Bergen in February 2023 and will have its home port in Tromsø. 

RV “G.O. Sars” was delivered in 2003 and is owned by the Institute of Marine Research (IMR). The use of the ship is shared between IMR (75%) and the University of Bergen (25%). The main operating areas are the Barents Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea. The vessel has also carried out trips to the Mid Atlantic ridge and to the Antarctic. 

The research vessel Kronprins Haakon has been built to operate in challenging ice conditions, which means it can go further north and south than any other Norwegian research vessel. It is equipped with the very latest high-tech equipment, enabling us to perform more complex studies.

RV "Johan Hjort" is named after the first IMR director and one of the founders of ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea), Johan Hjort (1869–1948).

The Norwegian government decided in September 2012 to fund construction of a new research vessel. The vessel was built in Spain, arrived Bergen 10 January 2017, and was named by prime minister Erna Solberg in Oslo 24 March 2017.

RV "G.M. Dannevig" is stationed at our research station in Flødevigen outside Arendal. The vessel's area of operation is primarily along the Norwegian coast from Kristiansand to Halden, and in the Skakerrak/Kattegat/North Sea. 

"Hans Brattström" is owned by the University of Bergen and is operated by the Institute of Marine Research. IMR uses the vessel 200–230 days per year along the West coast of Norway.

The survey vessel MS Hydrograf is owned by the Norwegian Mapping Authority and is operated and manned by the Institute of Marine Research.