ABISMO
| [[File:Click here to see an image of ABISMO and its launcher, as well as RV Kairei, the support ship.|300px|upright=1]]
ABISMO
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| History | |
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 Japan
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| Name: | ABISMO |
| Owner: | The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) |
| Operator: | JAMSTEC |
| Builder: | JAMSTEC |
| Maiden voyage: | 2007 |
| In service: | 2007 |
| Homeport: | Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | remotely operated underwater vehicle |
| Tonnage: | 300kg in the air |
| Displacement: | 100kg in the water |
| Length: | 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) |
| Height: | 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power: | electrical (Lithium-ion batteries) |
| Propulsion: | Thrusters (Longitudinal direction: 400W×4 sets, Transverse direction: 400W×2 sets), Crawler (Longitudinal direction 400W×2sets) |
| Test depth: | 11,000 meters |
| Complement: | unmanned |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
side-scan sonar, NTSC type color TV×1channel & search lights |
ABISMO (Automatic Bottom Inspection and Sampling Mobile) is a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) built by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) for exploration of the deep sea. It is the only remaining ROV rated to 11,000-meters (after Nereus, built and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution was lost at sea in 2014), ABISMO is intended to be the permanent replacement for Kaikō, a ROV that was lost at sea in 2003.
Between 1995 and 2003, Kaikō conducted more than 250 dives, collecting 350 biological species (including 180 different bacteria), some of which could prove to be useful in medical and industrial applications.Kaikō reached a maximum depth of 10,911.4 meters at the Challenger Deep on 24 March 1995, during its initial sea trials.Kaikō returned to Challenger Deep in February 1996, this time reaching a maximum depth of 10,898 meters.Kaikō made its last visit to Challenger Deep in May 1998. On 29 May 2003, Kaikō was lost at sea off the coast of Shikoku Island during Typhoon Chan-Hom, when a steel secondary cable connecting it to its launcher at the ocean surface broke. In May 2004, JAMSTEC resumed its research operations, using a converted ROV as its vehicle. This ROV, formerly known as UROV 7K, was rechristened Kaikō7000II. The 7000 designation indicates that this vessel is rated for diving to a maximum depth of 7,000 meters.
RV Kairei () is a deep sea research vessel that served as the support ship for Kaikō, and for its replacement ROV, Kaikō7000II. It now serves as the support ship for ABISMO. Kairei uses ABISMO to conduct surveys and observations of oceanic plateaus, abyssal plains, oceanic basins, submarine volcanoes, hydrothermal vents, oceanic trenches and other underwater terrain features to a maximum depth of 11,000 meters. Kairei also conducts surveys of the structure of deep sub-bottoms with complicated geographical shapes in subduction zones using its on-board multi-channel reflection survey system.
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Wikipedia