Japan’s new arctic research vessel set to arrive in December

The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, or JAMSTEC, said Tuesday it will take delivery of a new Arctic research vessel, Mirai II, on Dec. 18.

The delivery ceremony for the 13,000-ton icebreaker will take place at shipbuilder Japan Marine United’s Isogo plant in Yokohama, JAMSTEC said.

After shakedown cruises in Japan’s coastal waters and the Mariana region to the south, Mirai II will be shown to the public at the agency’s Mutsu Institute for Oceanography in the city of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, on April 3 next year and Hakodate Port in Hokkaido on April 18.

Mirai II will replace the 8,700-ton Mirai, which was decommissioned in December last year. The northernmost latitude reached by the retired oceanographic research vessel, which did not have icebreaking capacity, in the Arctic Ocean was 79.11 degrees north in 2010.

Mirai II is expected to navigate across the Arctic Ocean in 2029 after making observation trips to waters close to the North Pole in 2027 and 2028.

The new vessel will be capable of not only observing weather and atmospheric conditions and the ocean but also conducting sonar surveys of the seafloor and collecting sediment samples. It will also be equipped with unmanned vehicles and underwater drones.