SOUTHAMPTON oceanographers are to gain vital data on the oceans' ability to slow global warming by using a cargo ship as a centre for collecting information.

Scientists from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton will be working with the Swire group, using one of its vessels, the MV Indotrans Celebes, to gain access to remote areas of the globe where the oceans' ability to absorb carbon dioxide is largely unknown.

The oceans play a major role in reducing the rate at which the planet is warmed up by absorbing carbon dioxide from the air.

Scientists fear that global warming will accelerate if the oceans cannot cope with carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels at present rates.

There is also evidence that, as the oceans absorb more carbon dioxide, they become more acid - threatening the health of coral reefs.

Instruments installed on the ship will record changing patterns in the flow of carbon dioxide from the air into surface waters, then send the data immediately to the scientists via satellite.

The project is fully funded by The Swire Group Charitable Trust.

Dr David Hydes, who is leading the project, said: "The route between Jakarta and the Gulf of Mexico will provide information from areas where little or even no data exists - particularly in the Indian Ocean.

"As well as helping our own research, this information will be made available to international research projects that are already assessing carbon levels elsewhere in the world."

The route of the MV Indotrans Celebes, from Jakarta in Indonesia to the Gulf of Mexico, takes the ship across the Indian Ocean, into the Red Sea, the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic. Data gathered in the project will link up with ongoing observations in the Atlantic.

Studies by the National Oceanography Centre show that the Gulf Stream has slowed by 30 per cent in the last decade.