TOKYO - Japan's science ministry said Tuesday that the new Arctic research vessel Mirai II will be completed on Dec. 18 and handed over to a national research institute for deployment next summer.
The successor to the marine research vessel Mirai, retired in December 2025, is scheduled to embark on its first observation voyage to the Arctic Ocean in August 2027 under the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.
The 128-meter-long vessel's main mission will be environmental research in the Arctic Ocean, where sea ice is declining as global warming advances. Annual observation voyages are planned from 2027, including a trans-Arctic Ocean survey.
The Mirai II, with a gross tonnage of 13,000, will be able to navigate while breaking through ice up to 1.2 meters thick at a speed of 3.0 knots, enabling it to conduct high-precision atmospheric and oceanic observations in various waters.
The icebreaker will measure water temperature and salinity, survey seafloor topography with sound waves, and conduct weather observations with Doppler radar and other equipment.
It will also carry drones to examine conditions under sea ice and allow researchers to disembark onto the ice to collect samples.
After delivery to JAMSTEC, training for equipment operation and observations will be conducted in waters near Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk by March 2027, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
