Japanese Ship Mirai Ends This Year's Arctic Mission

Aboard Research Vessel Mirai, Sept. 30 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese oceanographic research ship Mirai arrived at Dutch Harbor in Alaska on Monday local time, completing its Arctic Ocean observation mission for this year.

The vessel left the city of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, in late August for the mission.

During the voyage, researchers on the Mirai conducted observations at more than 40 locations. The northernmost point the ship reached during the journey was a location with the coordinates 76.9 degrees north and 167.45 degrees west.

The Mirai, operated by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, or JAMSTEC, has been used for Arctic Ocean observations almost every year for study on environmental changes in the area, which is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth.

During the latest journey, researchers took seawater samples for data including those on nutrient salts and alkalinity levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. They also collected sea ice, mud and plankton, and conducted tests of undersea drones.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]