page_title: Kaikō ROV
section_title: RV Kairei
hierarchical_section_title: Kaikō ROV / RV Kairei
caption_attribution_description: English: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) Deep Sea Research vessel Kairei 日本語: 独立行政法人海洋研究開発機構（JAMSTEC ジャムステック）深海調査研究船かいれい
context_page_description: Kaikō was a remotely operated underwater vehicle built by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology for exploration of the deep sea. Kaikō was the second of only five vessels ever to reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep, as of 2019. Between 1995 and 2003, this 10.6 ton unmanned submersible conducted more than 250 dives, collecting 350 biological species, some of which could prove to be useful in medical and industrial applications. On 29 May 2003, Kaikō was lost at sea off the coast of Shikoku Island during Typhoon Chan-Hom, when a secondary cable connecting it to its launcher at the ocean surface broke.
  Another ROV, Kaikō7000II, served as the replacement for Kaikō until 2007. At that time, JAMSTEC researchers began sea trials for the permanent replacement ROV, ABISMO. ABISMO is currently one of only two ROVs rated to 11,000-meters.
context_section_description: RV Kairei (かいれい) is a deep sea research vessel that served as the support ship for Kaikō, and for its replacement ROV, Kaikō7000II. It now serves as the support ship for ABISMO. Kairei uses ABISMO to conduct surveys and observations of oceanic plateaus, abyssal plains, oceanic basins, submarine volcanoes, hydrothermal vents, oceanic trenches and other underwater terrain features to a maximum depth of 11,000 meters. Kairei also conducts surveys of the structure of deep sub-bottoms with complicated geographical shapes in subduction zones using its on-board multi-channel reflection survey system.
caption: RV Kairei
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