Operation of the Under Water TV on Chikyu

The Under-Water TV (UWTV) is used as a reentry support system for the scientific drilling by the drilling vessel “Chikyu”. The “Chikyu” UWTV performs scientific operations cost-effectively where the normal Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) in the market can’t be available. The UWTV in the 2^nd generation has been tested in a sea trial and operated in the subsequent scientific drilling project. The shape of the UWTV frame has been modified after the trial and the behavior of the UWTV during its dives has been improved. The tension data in the operations has been measured and the effect of the dynamic behavior is extracted from the data. Then the extracted dynamic effect is used as the indicator to see the UWTV situation under the sea surface and to prevent the UWTV from the operational failure.