Kaikō
| History | |
|---|---|
 Japan
|
|
| Name: | Kaikō |
| Owner: | The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) |
| Operator: | JAMSTEC |
| Builder: | JAMSTEC |
| Laid down: | 1991 |
| Launched: | 1993 |
| Christened: | 1993 |
| Completed: | 1993 |
| Acquired: | 1993 |
| Commissioned: | 1993 |
| Maiden voyage: | May 1993 to March 1995 |
| In service: | 1993 |
| Out of service: | 2003 |
| Struck: | 2003 |
| Homeport: | Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan |
| Fate: | Lost at sea off Shikoku Island during Typhoon Chan-Hom, 29 May 2003 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | remotely operated underwater vehicle |
| Displacement: | 10.6 tons in air |
| Length: | 3.0 meters |
| Installed power: | electrical (Lithium-ion batteries) |
| Test depth: | 10911.4 meters |
| Complement: | unmanned |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
side-scan sonar and search lights |
Kaikō (海溝?, "Ocean Trench") was a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) built by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) for exploration of the deep sea. Kaikō was the second of only four vessels ever to reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep, as of 2010. Between 1995 and 2003, this 10.6 ton unmanned submersible 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. On 29 May 2003, Kaikō was lost at sea off the coast of Shikoku Island during Typhoon Chan-Hom, when a secondary cable connecting it to its launcher at the ocean surface broke.
Another ROV, Kaikō7000II, served as the replacement for Kaikō until 2007. At that time, JAMSTEC researchers began sea trials for the permanent replacement ROV, ABISMO (Automatic Bottom Inspection and Sampling Mobile). ABISMO is currently one of only three ROVs rated to 11,000-meters (the other two being Nereus, built and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Deepsea Challenger, piloted by director James Cameron).
Bathymetric data obtained during the course of the expedition (December 1872 – May 1876) of the British Royal Navy survey ship HMS Challenger enabled scientists to draw maps, which provided a rough outline of certain major submarine terrain features, such as the edge of the continental shelves and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This discontinuous set of data points was obtained by the simple technique of taking soundings by lowering long lines from the ship to the seabed. Among the many discoveries of the Challenger expedition was the identification of the Challenger Deep. This depression, located at the southern end of the Mariana Trench near the Mariana Islands group, is the deepest surveyed point of the World Ocean. The Challenger scientists made the first recordings of its depth on 23 March 1875 at station 225. The reported depth was 4,475 fathoms (8184 meters) based on two separate soundings.
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