The Oshoro Maru, a training ship affiliated with the Faculty of Fisheries Science of Hokkaido University, will sail to the Bering Sea and the Chukchi Sea, the marginal waters of the Arctic Ocean, from June 8 to August 3, 2023. It will be the first foreign voyage in five years since 2018.

On board members will be undergraduate students from the Undergraduate School of Fisheries participating in the practical training course “Offshore Training II,” as well as graduate students who aim to observe and collect data related to their master’s and doctoral dissertations. Graduate students will come from both Japan and overseas, including Hokkaido University’s Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences as well as the University of Alaska Fairbanks, with which we have an inter-university exchange agreement.

In the latter half of the voyage, the first open training will be held for undergraduate students from all over Japan, based on the priority issue (1) of the Arctic Challenge for Sustainability II (ArCS II): human resource development and research capacity enhancement. Ten students from both national and private universities, as well as from liberal arts faculties, will be on board for this practical training. Participating students will not only conduct natural science oceanographic observations, but will also learn about the history and culture of the Arctic region. After boarding this ship, the students are expected not only to become researchers who study the Arctic, but also to be directly or indirectly involved in solving various issues in the Arctic region and spreading knowledge about the region through various social activities such as business, government, education, and non-profit organizations.

In addition to these students, researchers on the ArCS II will also participate in the research and survey activities on the ship.

For more information, please click here. Go to the website of Hokkaido university.