NISSUI - Frontier

The “Nissui genes” that link marine resources worldwide to the markets. NISSUI Frontier

The deep sea is the frontier of the 21st century
Shinkai 6500, the manned research submersible, capable of diving down to the deepest depth in the world
A deep sea world beyond anyone's experience
Elucidating the mechanism of earthquakes from the seafloor and closing in on earthquake predictions
Searching for marine resources lying at the bottom of the deep sea
Vessel operation and management, utilizing Nissui's DNA
Exploration operations making a mark in a variety of fields

The manned research submersible, Shinkai 6500, equipped with the world's top capacity for navigating underwater, has recorded over 1,000 dives underwater and produced significant results. The Shinkai 6500 is operated and managed by Nippon Marine Enterprises, Ltd.

"Shinkai 6500" (© JAMSTEC)

JAMSTEC conducts comprehensive investigative research in the seas and the earth and is the leader in Japan of deep-sea exploration. The Agency, which began in 1971 as the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center, later became an independent administrative institution and changed it's name to the present name.
JAMSTEC is the proud owner of 6K. As the number "6500" in the name suggests, the vessel is capable of diving down to a depth of 6,500m and as a manned submersible vessel, it is capable of diving to the deepest depths in the world.
When the need for a deep submersible vessel was advocated, it was mainly intended to research and predict the seismogenic mechanism. It was generally believed that a vessel capable of diving to the depths of 6,000 meter would be able to cover 97% of the world's seafloor and in fact submergence vessels developed in Europe and the U.S. have been designed for depths of 6,000 meters. However, in the seas off of Japan the geological structures that cause massive earthquakes lie on the slopes of the Japan trench at around depths of 6,200 to 6,500 meters. Consequently, a submersible vessel capable of diving down to the world's deepest depth of 6,500 meters was planned, which would enable it to cover 98% of the world's seafloor.
The Japan Marine Science and Technology Center in 1981 first developed the 2,000 meter-class 2K, which became the first full-scale manned research submersible in Japan. For the first time, man was able to directly set foot into the deep sea, which had been an unknown world until then, to conduct research and make measurements, which resulted in major achievements. At the same time, the construction know-how and operation experience honed from the 2K contributed to the birth of the 6K. Since water, at a depth of 6,500 meters, exerts a pressure of 680 kgs to every sq. cm, the pressure hull, which would house human being, was made out of titanium alloy. Moreover the acrylic resin window on the pressure hull to look out to the sea, the underwater communication instrument connecting it to the mother vessel on the sea surface, the sonar probes to detect obstacles ahead and other devices all incorporated the state-of-the-art technology at that time.
In fact, the 6K was the first in the world to discover a rift on the surface of the Pacific plate at a depth of 6,270m on the Japan trench off the Sanriku Coast. It was also the first to successfully film a swarm of deep-sea cold-seep clam at a depth of 6,374m on the Japan trench off Miyakojima. The 6K has been doing an outstanding job on the seafloors of 6,000+ meters below the sea surface.