Chinese research ship completes first international manned deep-diving scientific mission in waters surrounding Oceania

Scientific research ship Tansuo-1, carrying the deep-sea manned submersible Fendouzhe (Striver), arrives in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, March 11, 2023. (Xinhua Photo)

China's scientific research ship Tansuo-1 carrying manned submersible Fendouzhe (Striver) has finished the first international, large-scale and systematic manned deep-diving survey in the Kermadec Trench area of the southwest Pacific Ocean.

The research ship returned to the city of Sanya, South China's Hainan Province on Saturday, to a welcoming and boisterous crowd.

The vessel had traveled for 157 days starting from October, and sailed more than 22,000 nautical miles around Oceania, reported the Xinhua News Agency citing the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Among its 63 successful dives, four of which exceeded a depth of 10,000 meters with the deepest reaching 10,010.9 meters into the sea.

It was the first international, large-scale and systematic manned deep-diving survey in the Kermadec Trench area of the southwest Pacific Ocean, said the report.

The expedition team also reached the bottom of two abysses, one of which was the Diamantina Trench in the southeastern Indian Ocean, marking the first ever such expedition in human history.

Researchers collected samples of abyssal micro-organisms, rocks, concretions, sediments and water, which will provide important support for the understanding of how the lives in abysses evolve and adapt, and the evolution of sediments of abysses.

Initiated by the CAS Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, the voyage this time involved 10 domestic and international organizations.

Deng Yuqing from CAS Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, tother with Kareen Schnabel, a scientist from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand, became the first two women who had reached the deepest point of the Kermadec Trench.

According to Xinhua, the development of the Chinese built Striver began in 2016 and then set a national record by diving to a depth of 10,909 meters in the Mariana Trench in November 2020. The record-making dive was enabled by several deep-sea technologies involving materials, energy supply and communications.

Striver weighs about 36 tons and is rated to carry three people. It is equipped with three observation pods, two mechanical arms, seven cameras and sevem sonar devices, and operation tools such as sediment sampler and biological insulation box.

The manned submersible can work not less than six hours at the sea bottom of 10,000 meters.