Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) has been taking all possible measures to ensure the health of the passengers on board and safety management of research cruises by instructing them to refrain from unnecessary and nonurgent outings and confirming that all scheduled to board our ships take PCR tests and test negative for the COVID-19 before sailing.

On January 30, two crew members on board the Oceanographic Research Vessel MIRAI, on a research cruise since January 24, were strongly suspected of being infected with COVID-19. Then, MIRAI　temporarily returned to Port of Shimizu (Shizuoka City) on February 1, conducting PCR tests on all the mariners on board. As a result, eight people, including the two above, were confirmed to be positive.
The persons tested positive are currently quarantined on board, and the rest of the members stay on board.

JAMSTEC and its Emergency Response Headquarters Office headed by the President will continue to take necessary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 following the instructions of the local public health center.

In response to this situation, the research cruise of MIRAI, and the research cruise of the support ship, YOKOSUKA, planned to work with MIRAI, is finished earlier than scheduled.

If there are any changes in the situation, we will post them on the JAMSTEC website.

* Information on the MIRAI and YOKOSUKA research cruises
The cruise schedule was from Monday, January 24 to Friday, February 4
[Purpose of the cruise] Commissioned research cruise
Long-range acoustic communication tests will be conducted in shallow waters off Kyushu, Kochi and Mie using YOKOSUKA and MIRAI.