News

JAMSTEC Tests Fuel Cell Deep Ocean Probe

August 11, 2003 by Jeff Shepard

Japanese researchers for the for the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC, Tokyo, Japan) successfully tested the world's first deep-sea probe run on fuel cells in a step toward more efficient ocean exploration. Urashima, a red-and-white, 10-meter-long, torpedo-shaped submarine, successfully navigated shallow waters off the port of Yokosuka, south of Tokyo.

By using hydrogen-based, fuel cell batteries, the submarine can more than double the underwater distance covered on standard lithium-ion batteries. Equipped with a water-sampling device and a digital camera, Urashima is designed to dive as deep as 3,500m (2.17 miles) and cruise as far as 300km (186 miles). The submarine, scheduled for actual use in 2005, is expected to take deep-sea water samples from places unreachable by humans, such as areas around undersea volcanos and below the Arctic ice cap. The goal is to analyze amounts of carbon dioxide, sodium and other chemicals for information on global warming and other environmental changes. Researchers were planning to test the submarine again in deeper waters of the Pacific Ocean.