A ROV "ABISMO" for the Inspection and Sampling in the Deepest Ocean and Its Operation Support System

Recently, a number of bacteria including new one have been found from mud samples of Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. In order to get those samples or the sediment core in there, an underwater vehicle, which can dive to the deepest ocean and carry out the task, is needed, however, currently, there is no such vehicle in the world. So Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) began developing a new ROV for the deepest ocean use in 2005, it is "ABISMO". In this paper, several main systems of ABISMO and results of sea trials carried out before now are shown, and the operation support system is described.