The JOIDES Resolution
History of the JOIDES Resolution 

The JOIDES Resolution was built in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and christened in 1978. Originally she was named the Sedco/BP 471. For six years she served as a conventional drill ship jointly owned by Schlumberger and British Petroleum (BP).

In 1984, Schlumberger purchased the ship, converted her into a scientific research vessel and renamed her the JOIDES Resolution. JOIDES stands for Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling. Resolution comes from the name of another ship with a significant history of exploration. The HMS Resolution was Captain James Cook’s ship when he explored portions of the Pacific and the Antarctic more than 200 years ago.

In 1985, Schlumberger leased the newly refitted JOIDES Resolution to ODP (Ocean Drilling Program), an alliance of institutions and organizations from around the world. ODP ended in 2003 and was succeeded by IODP (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program). The mission of IODP is to search the Earth’s sea floor for clues to its history and structure, as well as to learn more about its geophysical and geological development. For up-to-date reports, photos, logs, and other information of interest regarding current and previous explorations, see the IODP site.

Photo courtesy of IODP. Sailing beneath the Bridge of the Americas in the Panama Canal.

Photo courtesy of IODP. At the dock in Keelung, Taiwan.

Photo courtesy of IODP. Anchored in the harbor of Valparaiso, Chile.

The current owner of the JOIDES Resolution is Overseas Drilling Unlimited, a joint venture of two companies. One, Transocean SedcoForex, Inc, is an offshore drilling company that was part of Schlumberger until 1999. The other owner, DSND Shipping AS, is an underwater contracting business that specializes in the development of underwater installations and oil well maintenance. Each corporation owns 50% of the venture. The ship is manned by Transocean SedcoForex crews.

The JOIDES Resolution has worked continuously since 1984 with no significant down time until 2005. Some of her milestones include:

• Sailing as far north as 80 degrees and as far south as 71 degrees (the North and South Poles are at 90 degrees respectively).
• Sailing over 400,000 km (250,000 mi).
• Recovering core samples in 6034 m (19,734 ft) of water.
• Recovering over 137 km (85 mi) of core samples
• Staying on location in over 9000 m (30,000 ft) of water by utilizing her dynamic positioning system.

A major upgrade in 2006 will return her to service in 2007.

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program

The IODP (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program) is an international research program. Its mission is to explore the rocks and sediments of the ocean floor to learn more about the history and structure of the Earth. The IODP’s concerns include global climate change, biodiversity, mineral and energy resources, earthquake processes, and natural hazards.

Two earlier programs—DSDP (Deep Sea Drilling Project) and ODP (Ocean Drilling Program)—have changed our understanding of Earth’s history and its geological processes. IODP is building upon that success. Four international partners fund the program. The Lead Agencies are the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT). The European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) is a Contributing Member. The People’s Republic of China Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) is an Associate Member.

Each member is responsible for providing and supplying its own drilling platforms for research. The USA’s platforms include the JOIDES Resolution. Japan has launched a new drillship, the Chikyu. The Chikyu, whose name means “Earth” in Japanese, will begin operations in 2007. ECORD provides Mission Specific Platforms (MSPs) that can drill in challenging environments such as shallow seas and ice-covered regions. These areas are not accessible to either of the drilling ships.

IODP is managed by an international partnership of 14 US science organizations and 21 international organizations. Together they are called the Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling (JOIDES). JOIDES evaluates and selects scientific drilling projects for IODP.