Research and teaching activities in the Graduate Program in Biological Oceanography are also developed aboard the Floating Teaching Laboratory Ciências do Mar-I, which is one of the four research vessels built to enhance students' onboard experience and research throughout distinct Brazilian regions. The "Ciências do Mar-I" serves FURG and 7 other Universities in southern Brazil.

       Built at INACE shipyard, in Fortaleza (CE), the "Ciências do Mar I" has a total length of 32 meters and a beam of 7.85 meters, two 450 BHP engines, and can maintain a cruising speed of 10 knots, with great fuel economy.

      The vessel has two laboratories and several scientific instruments, with receivers installed in fairings on the bottom of the hull to investigate the submerged layers of the ocean and the seabed. It is equipped with five winches and a crane, of different capacities, for launching and collecting samplers and for fishing operations. It has cabins with total overnight capacity for 18 students and professors, and accommodations for eight crew members.