Japan: Deep Sea Drilling Vessel Chikyu Enters Dry Dock for Repairs

Deep-Sea Drilling Vessel Chikyu, operated by Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, will enter dry dock on April 20 for inspection and repairs for damage caused by the “2011 Off the Pacific Coast Tohoku Earthquake. The work will take place in Yokohama Dockyard and Machinery Works, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

The schedule for future research expeditions will be determined based on the progress in repairs and related engineering works.

Chikyū is a Japanese scientific drilling ship built for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). The vessel designed to ultimately drill seven kilometers beneath the seabed where the Earth’s crust is much thinner and into the Earth’s mantle, deeper than any other hole drilled in the ocean thus far.

D/V Chikyu was built by the Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding and launched on January 18, 2002 in Nagasaki, Nagasaki.[2] The ship was outfitted by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and delivered to the JAMSTEC on July 29, 2005.[3]

The hull of the ship is 210 meters long, 38 meters in width, 16.2 meters high, and has an approximate gross tonnage of about 57,087 tons. The ship has a draft of 9.2 meters and a maximum cruising speed of 12 knots. The amidships derrick is 70 m high, and the top drive has a lifting capacity of 1,250 tons. Its complement of 150 crew are divided between 100 operators and 50 science personnel, with at seas crew changes handled by helicopter transfer.

Key innovations include a GPS system and six adjustable computer controlled azimuth thrusters (3.8 meters in diameter) that enable precise positioning to maintain a stable platform during deep water drilling. The maximum drilling water depth for riser drilling is 2,500 meters and can support a drill string up to 10,000 meters long.

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Source: JAMSTEC, April 18, 2011