Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona

This award was granted on the 22d of June at the UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris.
The UNESCO’s IOC, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, chose to include the data on maritime salinity and temperature, collected by the boat Fórum Marítim Català during its participation in the Barcelona World Race (a non-stop sailing trip around the world in two-person teams) in its database. This pioneering activity opens up the path to future joint projects in partnership with transoceanic sailing events in contribution to the Global Oceanic Observation and Research System. 

the FNOB launched this salinity and temperature research project in partnership with the CSIC, making the most of the journey across the ocean undertaken by the boats which partook in the round-world sailing trip that is the Barcelona World Race. The sailboat, christened FMC – Forum Maritim Catala, with Gerard Marin and Ludovic Aglaor at the helm, was given the task of collecting the relevant samples to contribute to the study of these measurements.

The official ceremony was held at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris (Room II Main Building), in the frame of the 50th Anniversary of the Closing of the IOC- the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission- where the commission’s Anniversary Banner will be given to Mr. Jose Maria Benavides (FNOB), Mr. Jordi Salat (CSIC), Mr. Toni Tio (FMC), Mr. Gerard Marin (skipper of the Forum Maritim Catala).

The IOC (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission) was founded in 1960 as a European Union programme devised to promote international cooperation in the field of oceanic research and protection.