Research Vessel HAKUHO MARU
HAKUHO MARU was transferred from the University of Tokyo's Ocean Research Institute together with TANSEI MARU in 2004, coinciding with the inauguration of JAMSTEC as an independently administered institution. HAKUHO MARU is a large-scale research vessel equipped with various research laboratories and observational equipments including winches. The vessel is able to conduct long-term, long-range, multipurpose research cruises around the world, in both coastal and offshore waters including those in the polar regions.
Mission
- Research surveys of marine life, geophysical and geochemical processes, and seismological surveys
Characteristics
- Advanced research facilities and equipment
- The vessel is equipped with a wide range of advanced research facilities and equipment, including a SeaBEAM unit, CTD analysis and processing equipment, acoustic equipment for monitoring biological resources, sub-bottom profiling equipment, an on-board gravimeter, and acoustic positioning systems.
- Ten research rooms
- The vessel has ten research rooms that are each used specifically for certain types of research. For example, Research Room 7 is a wet research room directly attached to the aft observation and operations deck which has been constructed to allow processing of seawater and sediment core samples. Research Rooms 5 and 6 are semi-dry rooms that are used for various tests and analysis in certain specific areas of research. There is virtually no fixed experiment equipment in these rooms, and instead, required research materials are brought on board depending on the objectives of each individual research cruise.
In addition to these multipurpose research rooms, HAKUHO MARU also houses other highly specialized research rooms. Research Room 1 is used for observations of seafloor topography as well as meteorological and hydrological observations, Room 8 is used for computer-based analyses, Room 9 houses the on-board gravimeter, Room 4 is used as a clean room, and Room 10 is used for low-temperature experiments.
Principal specifications
| Length |
100.0 m |
| Beam |
16.2 m |
| Depth |
8.9 m |
| Draft |
6.3 m |
| Gross tonnage |
3,991 tons |
| Cruising speed |
16 knots |
| Range |
12,000 nautical miles |
| Accommodation |
89 (54 crew, 35 research personnel) |
| Main propulsion system |
4-cycle diesel engines: 1,900 ps × 4 |
| Electric propulsion motors: 460kw × 2 |
| Main propulsion method |
Propeller: 4-wing skewed CPP × 2 Twin shaft & twin rudder |