The main objective of the Geo-Seas project was to provide direct user access to harmonised marine geological and geophysical metadata and datasets, which are ready for use through the development and use of common standards, vocabularies and methodologies.

In an attempt to overcome some of these barriers the Geo-Seas project developed an e-infrastructure for the delivery and exchange of marine geological and geophysical data. This infrastructure is made up of 26 data centres in 17 European coastal countries and includes research and academic institutes as well as a number of national geological surveys. These data centres also provide access to more than 77 000 standardised marine geological and geophysical data sets.

Geo-Seas is also underpinning key European directives such as INSPIRE which is developing standards and a structure for delivering integrated spatial information services, as well as international initiatives such as the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES/Copernicus) and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), both of which are urging the provision and exchange of environmental data and information.

Geo-Seas is an EU funded Framework 7 project. The Geo-Seas partnership comprises 30 organisations, of which 26 are data centres, managing marine geological and geophysical data sets. The project is coordinated by British Geological Survey (BGS), while the technical coordination is performed by Marine Information Service (MARIS).