Repeat Hydrography in the Mediterranean Sea: Med-SHIP01-2026, Cruise No. M216, January 13 - February 9 2026, Limassol (Cyprus) - Las Palmas (Spain).

The objective of the M216 cruise was to repeat the zonal Med-SHIP01 line, 8 years after its last repeat (2018), and 15 years after its first implementation in 2011 in order to add knowledge on the scales and magnitudes of variability and trends in circulation, hydrography, biogeochemistry and biology of the Mediterranean Sea. The primary goals of the cruise were: 1) Obtain comprehensive data to establish a nearly synoptic view of property distributions throughout the entire Mediterranean Sea, encompassing all major sub-basins. 2) Utilize the collected physical and chemical data to analyse changes in circulation and ventilation patterns, as well as to assess variations in the inventory and distribution of properties, with a specific focus on inorganic carbon and the uptake of anthropogenic carbon. 3) Address knowledge gaps in the understanding of the carbonate system in the Mediterranean Sea, including its sub-basins. This involves generating more accurate estimates of anthropogenic carbon and quantifying the rate of carbon storage and acidification levels. 4) Incorporate the measurement of new EOVs that are not routinely observed in the Mediterranean Sea, bringing new insights. 5) Provide a first basin-wide estimate of biological observations according to Bio-GO-SHIP. The cruise was successfully conducted as planned, with high-quality observations carried out in all major basins of the Mediterranean of physics, biogeochemistry and biology.