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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. |
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Sadao Ishida.
1980 photo of Mr. Ishida aboard Nissui's Mineshimamaru.
Mr. Ishida was second officer at that time. (from 70 years' history
of Nissui) |
Nippon Marine Enterprises, Ltd. was established in 1980 through a
joint investment by Nissui and Ichikawa Kaiji Kogyo, to be entrusted
with the operation and management operations of the 2K support vessel,
Natushima, which was owned by the former Japan Marine Science and
Technology Center. In 1984, it became a wholly owned group company
of Nissui. Today the main operation of Nippon Marine Enterprises,
Ltd. consists of the operation, management and assistance in running
the major vessels owned by JAMSTEC.
The operation and management of these research vessels require specialized
knowledge and experience. Staff who had operated the large fishing
fleets of Nissui have joined Nippon Marine Enterprises, Ltd. and
have been supporting its research and observation operations with
their on-deck operations, special ship handling skills and various
ocean survey experience, acquired through their work at Nissui. For
example, MCS requires streamer cables of 150m for receiving reflecting
waves to be linked to each other and reeled out to the ocean. The
entire length of the cable can reach approximately 6,000m and the
reeling is a major task that can take up to three hours. The vessel
towing the cable must maintain constant speed 24 hours a the day
and travel up to 500km on a survey line.
What enables the performance of such tasks is "Nissui's genes."
Captain Sadao Ishida (age 63), after having served as the captain
of Nissui's 8,000t freezer vessel, Nojimamaru, joined Nippon Marine
Enterprises, Ltd. from 1993 to serve as the captain of Yokosuka,
Kaiyo, and Kairei. Needless to say, safe navigation is required in
both capacities, but research vessels, in particular, require an
even higher level of safety. "For example, once a submersible
vessel sets sail, it does not return for eight hours. If the vessel
should run into inclement weather during that time it could become
life-threatening. That is why our decisions are crucial," says
Mr. Ishida. We may have fine weather in the morning but it may change
for the worse later or vice versa. For this reason being able to
predict the weather accurately is crucial and this is where Mr. Ishida's
years of experience sailing on the Bering Sea has come in handy.
Moreover, in order to stimulate the sailors' motivation, Mr. Ishida
had researchers hold seminars on the ships and directly instruct
the sailors on the purpose of their missions. This helped to solidify
the relationship of trust between the researchers and sailors and
similar seminars are now being held on other ships as well.
As the number of staff who have come from Nissui diminishes, Mr.
Ishida often tells the younger employees, "simply learning to
do what the senior captains had been doing is not what is meant by
carrying on in the footsteps of one’s predecessors; you must
catch up and acquire skills that are a step higher in order to really
succeed those who came before you." As a seafaring man for the
past 48 years, Mr. Ishida emphatically states, "Japan is a maritime
nation surrounded by the 6th largest body of water in the world.
I feel that now more than ever we need to focus on our research of
the seas. That is why our work is so important and also why we take
so much pride in it." Nissui's DNA has been faithfully handed
down to Nippon Marine Enterprises, Ltd. and is contributing to oceanographic
surveys and researches, upon which the 21st century has pinned its
hopes. |
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