Japan-Oceania Route

Outline and Results

In the Japan-Oceania route, we started bottle sampling of the atmosphere onboard Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) container ship "Hakuba Maru" and other vessels in 1992.
For six months from October 2001, continuous observations of GHG concentrations in the atmosphere and surface ocean were conducted onboard the container ship " GOLDEN WATTLE" belonging to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. Also, in 2003, continuous observations of GHG concentrations in the atmosphere were carried out onboard the car carrier "FUJITRANS WORLD" belonging to FUJITRANS Corporation.

TRANS FUTURE 5
TRANS FUTURE 5

In 2005, the "TRANS FUTURE 5" (see photo) belonging to TOYOFUJI SHIPPING CO., LTD. started continuous observations of GHGs in the atmosphere and surface ocean, and is still in operation. The vessel has been conducting observations since its launch, making approximately 150 round-trip observations by the end of 2023.

Timeseries of latitudinal distribution of CO2 concentration
Figure: Timeseries of latitudinal distribution of CO2 concentration