On 3 October, we'll be celebrating the 70th anniversary of the more than successful end to the Swedish oceanographic Albatross expedition, which - what a coincidence! - got its name because it took place aboard the Albatross.

The training ship, a spanking new five-mast vessel belonging to the Boström line (which was so kind to lend it at almost no cost!) left for its 45k nm 15 months-long journey on 4 July 1947, during which it carried out breakthrough research.

It was the first to test a piston sampler with the help of which 20 m-long sediment cores were recovered from the ocean floor, 10 times' longer than the previous ones.

Albatross' scientists also measured sediment thickness, using sink bombs. The data they gathered greatly contributed to the acceptance of the theory of plate tectonics. What's more, they shed light, so to say, into the ocean's void; their deep-sea trawling (7.6-7.9 km) revealed that life exists in what was previously considered a dead zone.