After boarding the wonderful JOIDES RESOLUTION
a couple of days back, we have been going through the intense shipboard orientation
exercises. Through these, one also comes to know about immense efforts behind
obtaining deep sea sediment cores. It is highly motivating to hear from onboard
colleagues about their planned research using sediment cores from IODP-355. With
such enthusiasm and dedication I am sure we would be able to achieve much more
than anticipated.

I feel grateful to IODP-India especially
Dr. S. Rajan, our Director, ESSO-NCAOR and Dr. Shailesh Nayak (Secretary,
Ministry of Earth Sciences, India), because without their encouragement and unconditional
support, it would have been highly difficult to materialize this endeavor.

Today, here at Colombo, we await completion of routine
port formalities before we arrive on our first drill site in the Laxmi basin in
the Arabian Sea.