Japanese Ship Mirai Leaves Arctic Ocean after Ending Mission

Aboard Research Vessel Mirai, Sept. 29 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese oceanographic research ship Mirai has bid farewell to the Arctic Ocean after ending its observation mission that lasted about three weeks.

The vessel left the Arctic Ocean by passing through the Bering Strait from north to south in the small hours of Friday local time.

Researchers who have been aboard the Mirai since it left the city of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, in late August for the Arctic Ocean research mission are set to get off the ship at Dutch Harbor in Alaska on Monday, and members of a different team will board the vessel for observations in the Pacific Ocean.

“Although the period of the Arctic Ocean voyage this year was shorter than in past years, we were able to achieve the research goals that we set at the start of the journey,” said Motoyo Ito, deputy chief researcher at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), who serves as head researcher on the Mirai.

Ito expressed her gratitude to those who traveled with her aboard the Mirai, saying, “We were supported by the experiences and sophisticated skills of the captain and other crew members and observation technicians.”

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]