The HCMR's marine activities, including fishing and coastal research is highly dependent on R/V PHILIA. Specifically the R/V PHILIA:

• supports European and national research programs for fisheries ecosystem based management , for environmental monitoring, in order to investigate the effect of climate change on marine biological resources
• supports the HCMR's equipment for underwater monitoring and research (ROVs, sleds underwater photography and video maintenance of the floats of the POSEIDON system)
• operates in all Greek seas covering the needs of all regions on (i) the state of fish stocks, (ii) the monitoring of water quality, marine organisms and pollution, and (iii) the integrated management of coastal zones
• is used by other entities, such as universities (Univ. Athens, Crete, Patras, Thessaloniki, Aegean), research institutions and fishermen cooperatives for research purposes
• is used to serve the country's consistent research and policy needs such as sampling and data collection required by national and Community policies such as the Common Fisheries Policy, the Fisheries Data Collection Program (DCF, EC 198/2008), the Marine Strategy Framework Directive   (MSFD, 2008/56 / EC) and the Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60 / EC). It is part of the Mediterranean fleet of research vessels that has undertaken the implementation of the Pan-Mediterranean Acoustic Sampling (MEDIAS)

The modernization of the R/V PHILIA (a) will upgrade a basic platform for multidisciplinary marine research in Greece b) will be the basic research infrastructure linking fishing and oceanographic research as well as conducting coastal zone monitoring activities; and (c) will operate in all Greek regions and beyond in the Mediterranean Sea

The R/V PHILIA will improve its operational capacity in a) the maintenance of muddy instruments (eg tilting tram, Crane, A Frame); b) its accuracy, speed and flexibility in fishing sampling (Crane, A Frame, Vinyl Counters); and (c) Acoustic Investigations (Reconstruction of Bridge and Ship Infrastructure) to assess the spatial distribution and biomass of zooplankton, which are new indicators for the Good Environmental Status (GES) of the seas. The infrastructure modernization will allow the linking of planktonic research with acoustics.

This approach is a frontier research today as it is directly linked to research on climate change and the ecosystem approach to fisheries management, development of tools and ecosystems prediction models. Specifically it will contribute in: 

• mapping of key fishing habitats and sensitive habitats (eg Posidonia beds, coralligenous and Maërl beds).
• detecting and monitoring of the spread of anthropogenic accidents, such as naval accidents
• research and installation of artificial reefs
• exploring new biological resources and resources especially in deep waters (eg retractable handrail, Crane, A Frame).
• experimental testing and testing of new fishing gear and modern technology associated with today's fishing gear, such as the usual practice on European fleet research vessels
• supporting the needs of Greek Aquariums (in Heraklion and Rhodes)
• supporting the needs of experimental research of fish farms by supplying them with living organisms for experimentation