The Deep-sea Drilling Vessel Chikyu Test Drilling off the Shimokita Peninsula
- Partly Damaged on BOP Hydraulic Connectors -

    As the emergency response to the rapidly developed low-pressure, around 6pm on Oct.7th (Sat.), the Deep-sea Drilling Vessel Chikyu of Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC; Yasuhiro Kato, President) had disconnected Riser Pipe from Blow-Out Preventer (BOP) urgently at the test drilling area off the Shimokita Peninsula (100 kilo meters north east off Hachinohe City), and had been standing by near the site with Riser Pipe remain connecting.
After the weather recovered, partly damages on the BOP Hydraulic Connectors were found during the inspection. The damages seemed to be caused by severe welters in the storm.
Currently, we are carefully evaluating the damaged condition and are studying further schedule for test drilling.