Scientific Drilling Vessel (e.g., JOIDES Resolution)

A scientific drilling vessel cores deep beneath the seafloor to recover sediment and rock for paleoclimate, tectonic, and biosphere research, distinct from commercial drillships that target hydrocarbons. The JOIDES Resolution was the long-serving workhorse of scientific ocean drilling, run from 1985 by the Ocean Drilling Program and later the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP); it completed its final expedition (Expedition 403, Fram Strait) in August 2024 and was retired after the US National Science Foundation declined to extend funding. Japan’s Chikyu, with a riser system, remains the other principal IODP drilling platform.