The Japan Meteorological Agency's Advanced Research Ship,“Ryofu Maru ?”
The role of oceanographic research vessels as a basic observation platform for comprehensive studies of oceans and reliable monitoring of marine environments has been constantly expanding, along with the rapid development of techniques for remote sensing from spacecraft has been made.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has a long history-more than a half century-of operating oceanographic vessels in the seas near Japan and the western North Pacific. Today, the JMA operates two vessels by its Headquarters and four vessels by four Marine Observatories for oceanographic and marine meteorological observations.
JMA's Newest Ship in Service
In July 1995, the 1,380 GT marine meteorological research ship Ryofu Maru ? was completed at the Tokyo Shipyard of Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. as a replacement for the Ryofu Maru ?, which was built in 1966. The Ryofu Maru ? has extremely high maneuverability to cope with a wide range of observational requirements in various
