Predicting and planning for global marine and meteorological changes has become an important contemporary issue. The world's oceans, which account for 72 percent of the Earth's total surface area, are the primary drivers of the world’s environments.

The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) is an organization with responsibility for conducting comprehensive ocean research, and is therefore devoted to gaining a better understanding of the oceans, clarifying the roles that oceans play and the mechanisms that govern them. To achieve these goals, JAMSTEC carries out research projects for which it develops and employs such high-level technologies as marine survey vessels, deep-sea research submersibles, unmanned exploration vehicles, and advanced acoustic survey equipment.

Nippon Marine Enterprises is commissioned by JAMSTEC to operate and manage a range of marine vessels and observation equipment that JAMSTEC owns, and to provide survey support for the exploration of the dynamics of seafloors, such as earthquakes and volcanic activity, that have a significant impact on the environment. In fact, the scope of the survey support business is so broad that it ranges from the operation of marine vessels, manned submersibles, and unmanned exploration vehicles to the acquisition of on-board data about the world's oceans.

In fiscal 2007, Nippon Marine Enterprises established a new corporate philosophy and guiding principle to guide and reflect its business operations.