Operational Improvement of Hemire ROV for Deep-sea Survey and Application to Exploration of Ferromanganese Crusts of Western Pacific Seamount

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an exploration of the ferromanganese crusts of Western Pacific Seamount registered by the Korean government. This area has been surveyed with a deep-sea camera and crust samples have been acquired by deep-sea dredging since 2013. On October 18-19, 2017, a united research team from KIOST and KRISO explored two blocks, OSM11 and OSM07, on the seamount using Hemire ROV. A precise survey was conducted on the ferromanganese crusts and sediments covering the slope/top of OSM11 and the middle flat area of OSM07. Rock samples were collected with precise positioning, and HD videos were recorded for 7 hours. This paper discusses the technical issues of this exploration in terms of (1) how to deal with an emergency situation during an electric power blackout, (2) the improvement of the thruster power by adding cooling plugs to the housings of the thruster amplifiers, (3) the relative motion of the depressor by changing the fixing method of the cable terminator, which affects the service life of the cable, (4) a sampling technique for the steep slope of the seamount, (5) integrated navigation under a USBL blackout, and (6) a 3-dimensional image mosaic for visualizing the distribution state of the crusts.

Keywords

• Remotely operated vehicle(ROV)
• Operational improvement
• Cable termination
• Cooling plugs