Cellula Robotics Ltd. was awarded a multi-million dollar contract from Fukada Salvage & Marine Works Ltd. Co. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) to provide a customized CRD100 seafloor drill system.

The CRD100 is a fourth generation seafloor drill designed to operate in waters down to 3000m depth for borehole sampling and mineral exploration.  The CRD100 provides an unprecedented level of intelligent control that facilitates efficient core sampling.  A wireline tool system further enhances the speed of operation.

Built on proven subsystems, the standard CRD100 is self-contained with a 100 HP power pack.  Using Commercial off The Shelf (COTS) “size H” drilling tools, the standard CRD100 can sample for 65 meters of continuous coring.  The JAMSTEC CRD100 includes less “size H” tooling but also supports optional tools for surface sampling (T146) and large cased boreholes.

The project includes the seafloor drill, offshore control van and drill tooling.  All equipment will be delivered in July 2015 and will undergo sea trials in March 2016.

Fukada Salvage and Marine Works Co., Ltd. (FSM), headquartered in Osaka, Japan is involved marine salvage, steel structure installation, offshore engineering, and other infrastructural improvement projects. FSM is currently introducing deep-sea research equipment and other cutting-edge assets to a fleet of six offshore support vessels to aggressively tackle ocean development projects. For more information, please visit the FSM website: http://www.fukasal.co.jp/en/index.html

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world’s leading heavy machinery manufacturers, with consolidated sales of 3,349.5 billion yen in fiscal 2013, the year ended March 31, 2014. MHI’s diverse lineup of products and services encompasses four business domains, “Energy & Environment”, “Commercial Aviation & Transportation Systems”, “Integrated Defense & Space Systems” and “Machinery, Equipment & Infrastructure.” For more information, please visit the MHI website: http://www.mhi.co.jp/en/index.html

Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) is an independent administrative institution whose main objective is to contribute to the advancement of academic research in addition to the improvement of marine science and technology. For more information, please visit the JAMSTEC website: http://www.jamstec.go.jp/e/