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China's Deep Sea Ambition, Technology, Expeditions: News & Updates

China's first support ship for 10,000-meter-deep manned submersible launched
CGTN
Published on Jan 14, 2019

China's first support ship customized for the domestically developed 10,000-meter-deep manned submersible was launched in Mawei District of Fuzhou City in southeast China's Fujian Province on Sunday. The ship has a total length of 87.2 meters, a width of 18.8 meters, a moulded depth of 7.4 meters, a trial speed of 14.3 knots and a displacement of 7,000 tons. Designed and constructed by Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding Ltd., the ship adopts electric propulsion with level-two power positioning capability. The ship is fitted with rudder propellers and a telescopic side thrust with an endurance exceeding 15,000 nautical miles.

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How Does Manned Submersible Shenhai Yongshi Communicate with Its Mothership Robustly?
Jan 29, 2019

When the manned submersible dives into the deep sea, the acoustic wave, which can penetrate the seawater, becomes the only communication medium between the submersible and its mothership.

However, when the acoustic signal from the seabed reaches the surface, it becomes no longer clear due to the noise pollution caused by the mothership. The traditional solution is to keep the receiving transducer array on the surface away from the noise source, which is inconvenient and unsafe for the operation, especially under extreme sea conditions.

A research team led by Prof. ZHU Min from the Institute of Acoustics (IOA) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed advanced signal processing schemes to overcome the deterioration of signal quality and developed a multi-service communication system between the submersible and the mothership in the shipborne mode. The study was published in China Ocean Engineering.

When designing the communication system of 4500m-depth manned submersible Shenhai Yongshi, Prof. ZHU's team adopted the shipborne mode and found that the in-band noise power was increased by 100 times compared with previous non-shipborne data.

To achieve high-speed communication in the low signal-to-noise ratio condition, researchers employed advanced code modulation and receiving algorithms, with the sparse adaptive turbo equalization algorithm based on turbo code proposed for the coherent transmission.

In the scheme, the sparse decision-directed soft equalizer automatically adjusted the tap pattern and the tap weights according to the varying channel, while the turbo code significantly suppressed the error floor and decreased the turbo equalizer's iteration times.

From the 4680 records of the coherent communication in the 28 dives up to the depth of 4534m in 2017, the failure rate of the coherent frames was 6.13%, where both synchronization errors and decoding errors were taken into account. The error-free transmissions of color images were achieved by the inter-frame error correcting code and the transmission duration of each image was less than 45 seconds.

As the next step, Prof. ZHU's team will further research array signal processing and high spectral-efficiency acoustic communication technology to achieve the high-data-rate multi-service communication of the full ocean depth submersibles.

This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China.

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Figure.1 Installation of the shipborne array. (Image by IOA)

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Figure.2 In-situ images received by the mothership. (Image by IOA)


How Does Manned Submersible Shenhai Yongshi Communicate with Its Mothership Robustly?---Chinese Academy of Sciences
 
21:54, 10-Mar-2019
China's 'Deep Sea Warrior' submersible back home after setting records
By Guo Meiping

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After a 121-day expedition in the Indian Ocean, China's manned submersible "Shenhai Yongshi," or "Deep Sea Warrior" returned to Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, on Sunday.

Loaded on the science ship "Tansuo-1", the submersible began its journey on November 10, 2018. With scientists from 10 Chinese and foreign research institutes on board the vessel, the submersible traveled 17,000 nautical miles during its voyage.

"The course of this voyage is about two-thirds of the way around the Earth," said Liu Zhu, captain of Tansuo-1.

Infographic: A deep dive with China's "Deep Sea Warrior" submersible

According to Liu, the long distance was not the biggest challenge in the expedition.

"We had to fight with the severe southwest monsoon of the Indian Ocean," said Liu.

"The 121-day voyage gave us more confidence in operating the science ship, personnel management, and the submersible and deep sea scientific equipment developed by our country," Liu added.

The submersible made a total of 62 dives, with an average working time in water of nine hours and 15 minutes and an average underwater operation time of six hours and 13 minutes, which created a series of new records in China's manned deep-diving history.

(Top image via VCG)
 
China to build deep-sea navigation system in South China Sea
By Deng Xiaoci in Shanghai Source:Global Times Published: 2019/3/22 16:58:40

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Photo taken on May 5, 2017 shows Jiaolong, China's manned submersible, in South China Sea. (Xinhua/Liu Shiping)

China is planning to build a blue water high-precision regional navigation system, dubbed as the underwater BeiDou, in a pilot program in the South China Sea to provide positioning, navigation, and communication services for global users, a key developer of the system told the Global Times on Thursday.

The blue water navigation system, codenamed UGPS, will provide crucial technological support for China's branching into the domain of deep water, especially for the country's deep-sea submersibles, according to the Shanghai Acoustic Laboratory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Thursday.

Although it is codenamed UGPS, it will be based on services of China's domestically developed BeiDou Navigation Satellite System for its time and communication service rather than those from the US GPS, Huang Chudan, director of the laboratory's general office, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"The radio positioning signals can hardly penetrate deep water, therefore submarines and unmanned submersibles cannot use existing navigation satellite systems. The UGPS will use sound wave signals instead of radio ones for positioning under the water," Huang explained.

The laboratory did not reveal on how deep into the sea the system would be effective, nor the precision level of the service.

During the period of the 13th Five-Year Plan 2016-20, China will build a UGPS demonstration area, covering some 250,000 kilometers of the South China Sea, about 10 percent of the total Chinese territorial waters in the region, said the lab employee.
 
China, Russia to research life, resources in deep sea
By Zhang Yangfei | China Daily | Updated: 2019-04-04 08:57
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Scientists from Russia and China will cooperate in the exploration of marine life and mineral resources in the deep sea, particularly in the Arctic region, Andrei Adrianov, vice-president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said at a news conference on Wednesday.

"China and Russia both attach great importance to deep-water research," he said, adding that Chinese scientists will join Russia's Arctic expedition team this year.

The Arctic has some unique seas near Russia with rich biological resources, and researchers from the two countries will target some deep-sea species such as krill and other deep-water fish in their studies, he said.

However, Adrianov said, scientists will first need to figure out the specific area that can be influenced by human activity and which should be protected.

Adrianov, together with the academy's president, Alexander Sergeev, recently paid a visit to subsidiaries of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and attended a symposium last week on deep-sea exploration of the world oceans at the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering in Sanya, Hainan province.

Both sides shared their recent findings in marine biological and geological studies and exchanged their experiences and new technologies used in marine research.

China has made several dives into the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean and plans to invite Russian researchers to go along to probe marine life, geological features and minerals. Russian researchers also plan to host their Chinese counterparts in further exploration of the deep-sea volcanoes they have discovered, Adrianov said.

Russian scientists have also created a digital bank of marine species living in the Arctic and are willing to share the information with their Chinese counterparts, he said.

Sergeev said the two countries are working on a project to put at least two unmanned submersibles - one developed by China and the other from Russia - to work in the deep sea.

"We have seen automatic, unmanned submersibles in Sanya that can work independently for a long time underwater, and China also owns advanced equipment to probe the Mariana Trench, so we have suggested to our Chinese colleagues that we test both our unmanned submersibles in areas such as Vladivostok.

"It is well worth trying because teamwork by unmanned drones, whether under the sea or in space, will surely become a technological trend," he said.
 
PUBLIC RELEASE: 11-APR-2019
Unique oil-eating bacteria found in world's deepest ocean trench
UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA

Research that reveals what lies at the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean -- the Mariana Trench. Until now, scientists knew more about Mars than the deepest part of the ocean. But an expedition to collect samples of the microbial population at the deepest part of the Mariana Trench (some 11,000 meters down) has revealed a new 'oil-eating' bacteria. CREDIT: University of East Anglia

Scientists from the University of East Anglia have discovered a unique oil eating bacteria in the deepest part of the Earth's oceans - the Mariana Trench.

Together with researchers from the China and Russia, they undertook the most comprehensive analysis of microbial populations in the trench.

The Mariana Trench is located in the Western Pacific Ocean and reaches a depth of approximately 11,000 metres. By comparison, Mount Everest is 8,848 metres high.

"We know more about Mars than the deepest part of the ocean," said Prof Xiao-Hua Zhang of the Ocean University in China, who led the study.

To date, only a few expeditions have investigated the organisms inhabiting this ecosystem.

One of these expeditions was organized and led by noted marine explorer and Academy Award-winning film director James Cameron, who built a specialised submersible to collect samples in the trench.

Dr Jonathan Todd, from UEA's School of Biological Sciences, said: "Our research team went down to collect samples of the microbial population at the deepest part of the Mariana Trench - some 11,000 metres down. We studied the samples that were brought back and identified a new group of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria.

"Hydrocarbons are organic compounds that are made of only hydrogen and carbon atoms, and they are found in many places, including crude oil and natural gas.

"So these types of microorganisms essentially eat compounds similar to those in oil and then use it for fuel. Similar microorganisms play a role in degrading oil spills in natural disasters such as BP's 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."

"We also found that this bacteria is really abundant at the bottom of the Mariana Trench."

In fact, the team found that the proportion of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria in the Trench is the highest on Earth.

The scientists isolated some of these microbes and demonstrated that they consume hydrocarbons in the laboratory under environmental conditions that simulate those in the Mariana Trench.

In order to understand the source of the hydrocarbons 'feeding' this bacteria, the team analysed samples of sea water taken at the surface, and all the way down a column of water to the sediment at the bottom of the trench.

Dr Nikolai Pedentchouk, from UEA's School of Environmental Sciences, said: "We found that hydrocarbons exist as deep as 6,000 meters below the surface of the ocean and probably even deeper. A significant proportion of them probably derived from ocean surface pollution.

"To our surprise, we also identified biologically produced hydrocarbons in the ocean sediment at the bottom of the trench. This suggests that a unique microbial population is producing hydrocarbons in this environment."

"These hydrocarbons, similar to the compounds that constitute diesel fuel, have been found in algae at the ocean surface but never in microbes at these depths."

Dr David Lea-Smith, from UEA's School of Biological Sciences, said: "These hydrocarbons may help microbes survive the crushing pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, which is equal to 1,091 kilograms pressed against a fingernail.

"They may also be acting as a food source for other microbes, which may also consume any pollutant hydrocarbons that happen to sink to the ocean floor. But more research is needed to fully understand this unique environment."

"Identifying the microbes that produce these hydrocarbons is one of our top priorities, as is understanding the quantity of hydrocarbons released by human activity into this isolated environment," added Prof Xiao-Hua Zhang.

'Proliferation of hydrocarbon degrading microbes at the bottom of the Mariana Trench' is published in the journal Microbiome on April 12, 2019.


Unique oil-eating bacteria found in world's deepest ocean trench | EurekAlert! Science News

Jiwen Liu, Yanfen Zheng, Heyu Lin, Xuchen Wang, Meng Li, Yang Liu, Meng Yu, Meixun Zhao, Nikolai Pedentchouk, David J. Lea-Smith, Jonathan D. Todd, Clayton R. Magill, Wei-Jia Zhang, Shun Zhou, Delei Song, Haohui Zhong, Yu Xin, Min Yu, Jiwei Tian and Xiao-Hua Zhang. Proliferation of hydrocarbon-degrading microbes at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Microbiome (2019). DOI: 10.1186/s40168-019-0652-3
 
12 Apr 2019 | 17:38 GMT
A Routing Scheme to Make Underwater Networks More Reliable - IEEE Spectrum
A new protocol salvages valuable data if one autonomous underwater vehicle fails in a fleet

By Michelle Hampson

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Photo: Guangjie Han

The ocean’s depths have long remained mysterious—a dark abyss where few humans go. But we still have a stake in this alien environment; scientists want to know where pockets of pollution are worst, and where earthquakes occur along the sea floor. Passive sensors can collect such data, but transmitting it in this murky environment is a challenge.

Guangjie Han at Hohai University and his colleagues have proposed a new approach for how autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) patrolling those depths can better collect data from these sensors. Their design was published 27 March in IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing.

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Photo: Guangjie Han
The launching of the “C-shark” autonomous underwater vehicle in the East China Sea.


Each sensor, referred to as a node, sits stationary while it collects data. Meanwhile, a fleet of AUVs is dispatched across the network on a predetermined trajectory to collect data from each node.

Radio waves are absorbed by water, so underwater sensors and vehicles typically transmit and receive information by using acoustic signals. But sound waves cannot travel as fast or as far in water as radio waves can in the air.

And with more AUVs comes more challenges. “Particularly, it is difficult to communicate directly and synchronize the information among AUVs, due to the poor quality of underwater acoustic communication and short communication range,” Han says.

What’s more, nodes that are not close to the projected path of an AUV must relay their data to other nodes that will be close enough to an AUV to transmit it. This creates “hot regions” in the network, where some nodes are overburdened and may run out of energy and die. As Han says, “After some nodes in a hot region die, a node near the hot region may not be able to find a neighbor node to communicate [with], resulting in the data loss.”

In the new proposed approach, called HAMA (High-Availability data collection scheme based on Multi-AUVs), AUVs are able to adjust their trajectories to alleviate the hot region problem. As well, HAMA has a malfunction discovery and repair mechanism, to avoid data loss when some AUVs malfunction. If a node trying to send its data to an AUV discovers that the AUV has failed, it uses a multi-hop communication approach to inform the other nodes. Functioning AUVs then take the place of the broken-down AUV in collecting data.

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Photo: Guangjie Han
An autonomous underwater vehicle cruises through the water.


The researchers tested their approach in a number of simulations. Han says, “The simulation results show that, compared with the other algorithms or schemes, by adopting HAMA, the network lifetime is prolonged, the energy consumption of the nodes is reduced and balanced, and the packet delivery ratio is increased.”

Although this approach does have many advantages, it also results in a greater delay time for the information to be received, compared to the other approaches in this study. This could be problematic at times when it’s important to have updated information—say, if an underwater volcano is erupting. Han and his team plan to address this issue in future work.

“We think that the network delay is mainly caused by the data transmission time, the data processing time, and the movement of AUVs. So, in the future, we will reduce the network delay from these aspects,” he says.
 
NEWS * 15 APRIL 2019
Snailfish is first animal from extreme ocean depths to get genome sequenced | Nature
Gene sequence from fish living in the Mariana Trench reveals clues to living life under pressure.

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Hadal snailfish (Pseudoliparis swirei) gather around a baited instrument that researchers deployed in the Mariana Trench in 2014.Credit: SOI/HADES/University of Aberdeen/Dr. Alan Jamieson

A flabby, translucent creature called the hadal snailfish (Pseudoliparis swirei) is the first animal from the extreme depths of the ocean to have its genome sequenced. Its genetic road map is revealing the basis of adaptations that enable animals to live in hostile environments such as the Mariana Trench, the deepest place in the ocean.

Deep-sea creatures must cope with a cold, dark and extreme-pressure environment. But without the genome of any animal living below 6,000 metres — a region known as the hadal zone — scientists weren’t sure how the creatures acquired the adaptations necessary to survive. Results published on 15 April in Nature Ecology & Evolution1 point to skeletal and cellular changes on which the hadal snailfish relies to endure these harsh conditions.

Nothing quite like this study has ever been done before, says Paul Yancey, a marine biologist at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. “It’s exciting.”

Living under pressure
The study authors captured hadal snailfish from about 7,000 metres down in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean. After sequencing the fish’s genome, the team searched for clues that could explain hadal snailfish traits such as a skeleton made of cartilage and cellular membranes that keep working under immense pressures. The pressure in the Mariana Trench is similar to what someone would feel if the entire weight of the Eiffel Tower rested on their big toe.

The researchers compared the fish’s DNA to that of a close relative, the Tanaka’s snailfish (Liparis tanakae), which lives in tide pools. The two species split from a common ancestor about 20 million years ago.

There are several genetic changes in the hadal snailfish genome linked to a rapid adaptation to the deep sea, says Shunping He, an ichthyologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan, and co-lead author of the study.

The high pressures in the Mariana Trench would crush normal bones. But a gene integral to hardening bones is inactive in the hadal snailfish — consistent with the idea that a skeleton made of cartilage is more pressure-tolerant, the authors write.

Hadal snailfish have also lost several genes involved in sensing light. However, He and his colleagues did find five such genes that are still active, suggesting that the fish might have a residual ability to see.

Some groups of genes, many of which are involved in fatty-acid metabolism, have expanded in the hadal snailfish. The presence of certain fatty acids helps cell membranes to stay flexible at great depths, the authors write. Otherwise, high pressure can cause those membranes to become rigid and impenetrable. Other genes act to prevent proteins from folding incorrectly under extreme pressure.

One of a kind?
It’s thrilling to see this genome sequence, as well as ideas about how vertebrates adapt to extreme depths, says Santiago Herrera, a molecular ecologist at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. “Understanding how this kind of life is possible in this environment is really ground-breaking.”

The study also creates a basis for future work looking at how fish have evolved to survive in extreme environments, says Natalya Gallo, an oceanographer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. Now, researchers can conduct lab-based experiments with tools such as CRISPR, editing genes to explore the traits that they control, she adds.

It’ll be interesting to see whether the genetics behind hadal snailfish adaptations are representative of animals in the deep sea, or whether each species has its own set of genetic strategies to survive this extreme environment, Herrera says.
 
NEWS RELEASE 13-MAY-2019
Underwater power generation
Energy from seawater: Power generator autonomously switches between two functional modes

WILEY

Underwater vehicles, diving robots, and detectors require their own energy supply to operate for long periods independent of ships. A new, inexpensive system for the direct electrochemical extraction of energy from seawater offers the advantage of also being able to handle short spikes in power demand, while maintaining longer term steady power. To do so, the system can autonomously switch between two modes of operation, as researchers report in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

Charting submarine landforms, currents, and temperatures, and inspecting and repairing pipelines and deep-sea cables are just a few examples of tasks carried out autonomously by underwater devices in the depths of the ocean. Under these extreme conditions, the challenge for power generators is to produce both a high energy density (long run time with basic power use) and high power density (short-term high current flow) for activities such as rapid movement or action of a gripper.

Liang Tang, Hu Jiang, and Ming Hu and their team from the East China Normal University in Shanghai, Shanghai University, and the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences in Beijing, China, have taken inspiration from marine organisms that can switch their cell respiration between aerobic and anaerobic modes by using different materials as electron acceptors. The researchers have designed a new power generator that works by the same principles.

The key to the discovery is a cathode made of Prussian blue, an open framework structure with cyanide ions as "struts" and iron ions as "nodes", which can easily accept and release electrons. When combined with a metal anode, this structure can be used to generate electricity from seawater.

If the power demand is small, the electrons flowing into the cathode are transferred directly to dissolved oxygen. Because dissolved oxygen in seawater is inexhaustible, power at low current can theoretically be provided for an unlimited time. However, the concentration of dissolved oxygen is low. When the power demand, and thus current, are sharply increased, there is not enough oxygen at the cathode to immediately take up all of the incoming electrons. The Prussian blue must therefore store these electrons by reducing the oxidation state of the iron atoms from +3 to +2. To maintain a charge balance, positively charged sodium ions lodge within the framework. Because these are present in high concentration in seawater, many sodium ions--and therefore many electrons--can be absorbed in a short time. When the current demand slows down, electrons are transferred to oxygen once again, oxygen regenerates the framework, Fe(2+) is oxidized to Fe(3+), and the sodium ions depart.

This new system is very stable in corrosive seawater and can withstand numerous mode switches. It ran continuously for four days in its high-energy mode without losing power. The high-power mode was able to supply 39 light-emitting diodes and a propeller.



Underwater power generation | EurekAlert! Science News

Wei Zhang, Wenqian Chen, Xiaoli Zhao, Qi Dang, Yucen Li, Tianyu Shen, Fengchang Wu, Liang Tang, Hu Jiang, Ming Hu. An Auto-Switchable Dual-Mode Seawater Energy Extraction System Enabled by Metal-Organic Frameworks. Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2019). DOI: 10.1002/anie.201901759
 
Scientists discover new 'cold vent' on ocean floor
By Li Wenfang in Guangzhou | China Daily | Updated: 2019-05-18 07:47
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Chinese scientific research ship Haiyang 6 returns to Guangzhou, Guangdong province, after completing its deep sea exploration on Thursday. [Photo by Xiao Xiong/For China Daily]

Chinese scientists discovered an active "cold vent" in the South China Sea during a research voyage that concluded on Thursday.

Cold vents are areas where methane, hydrogen sulfide and other hydrocarbons seep out off the ocean floor, providing a unique environment for organisms or the development of topographic features.

Samples and data of organisms, water, gas and sediments were collected to further the study of the evolution and mechanisms of cold vents, according to the China Geological Survey of the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Among the organisms seen was a type of tubeworm-paraescarpia echinospica-in the cold vent 1,390 meters below sea level.

With a 250-year life span, the species is one of the longest living, said Gong Yuehua, a senior engineer of the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, according to a report by China Central Television.

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A carbonate rock was found during the scientific exploration.[Photo by Xiao Xiong/For China Daily]

The worm lives on bacteria in its stomach, which in turn feed on hydrogen sulfide and methane.

One of the samples of the species, which can grow to 1.6 meters long, has red blood.

The discovery marks the first of this scale by Chinese scientists around a cold vent.

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Samples of brittle stars were discovered from an active "cold vent" in the South China Sea.[Photo by Xiao Xiong/For China Daily]

The research voyage, covering more than 3,000 nautical miles in 36 days, combined more than 20 major tasks with 111 scientists and crew members on board.

Scientists came from 18 institutions, including research institutes and universities.

Some domestically made research equipment was applied on a trial basis and some deep-sea equipment was tested at sea.

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An autonomous underwater vehicle that was created by the Shenyang Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. [Photo provided to China Daily]
 
China's ROV collects rare deep-water sea slugs in western Pacific Ocean
Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-28 10:53:32|Editor: Li Xia

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Photo taken on May 27, 2019 shows a rare deep-water sea slug shot by China's remote operated vehicle (ROV), Discovery, in the sea bottom of western Pacific Ocean. Discovery, a remote operated vehicle (ROV) aboard China's research vessel KEXUE (Science), captured two rare deep-water sea slugs in western Pacific Ocean in a recent dive. (Xinhua)

ABOARD KEXUE, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Discovery, a remote operated vehicle (ROV) aboard China's research vessel KEXUE (Science), captured two rare deep-water sea slugs in western Pacific Ocean in a recent dive.

Sea slugs are hardly seen in deep-water (deeper than 200 meters), but Discovery gathered the two at the depth of 970 meters, according to Xu Kuidong, chief scientist aboard the vessel and a researcher of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The two sea slugs, with white bodies and pairs of bronze tentacles on pink heads, are about 5 cm long and 2 cm wide in the ocean, but they curled up after being taken to the vessel.

With varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs, sea slugs actually belong to the family of snails, or marine gastropod mollusks, and have lost their shells over evolutionary time.

There are about 3,000 species of sea slugs in the world and most of them are found in shallow water of tropical zones.

Eight species were discovered in the deep-water of northeastern Pacific Ocean, and none has been reported in the deep-water of western Pacific Ocean before.

Beside sea slugs, Discovery also collected more than 60 samples of corals, sponges, shrimps and rocks in the dive.

KEXUE is carrying out a 20-day long investigation over a series of seamounts in the south of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place of the earth.
 
China launches latest marine research vessel
By Gao Yun
2018-01-16 15:42 GMT+8

China launched its latest comprehensive marine research vessel, the Dong Fang Hong 3, at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai on Tuesday.

With an overall length of 103.8 meters and width of 18m, the vessel can navigate a continuous sailing distance of 15,000 nautical miles (27,780 kilometers).

The Dong Fang Hong 3, a cooperative project between No. 708 Research Institute of China State Shipbuilding Co. (CSSC) and Ocean University of China, is equipped with the most comprehensive scientific expedition functions.

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Dong Fang Hong 3, China's latest marine research vessel. /CGTN Photo

“For a comprehensive research vessel, its major task focuses on scientific expedition, and for China, observation is now the main target of scientific expedition,” said No. 708 Research Institute's Wu Gang, the chief designer of the vessel.

It carries advanced systems of detection and experiment analysis and can conduct large-scope, multidisciplinary and multiple-marine-element observation, as well as atmospheric, water body and undersea sampling and detection.

The research vessel is also a base for cultivating high-level marine talents and a platform that integrates science, education and innovation, said Zhao Jun, the chief engineer of the vessel from Ocean University of China.

Once put into service, Dong Fang Hong 3, together with three other existing vessels of Ocean University of China, will form the only university expedition fleet in the country that is capable of conducting comprehensive scientific research in near-shore, off-shore and deep sea areas.

Chinese Science Ship Dong Fang Hong 3 Launches Today
TANG SHIHUA
DATE : MAY 30 2019/SOURCE : YICAI
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Chinese Science Ship Dong Fang Hong 3 Launches Today

(Yicai Global) May 30 -- The new generation deep-sea scientific research vessel built by Shanghai-based state-backed Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) was commissioned into service today.

The vessel, whose underwater radiated noise control technology is of the highest international standards, is also one of the world's largest noise-free scientific research ships, local media Shanghai Observer reported.

Customized for the Ocean University of China in Qingdao in China's eastern province, the scientific research ship Dong Fang Hong 3, which can sail for 15,000 nautical miles and carry 110 crew members and researchers, has among the most tonnage and the most ship staff among world scientific research ships. It has 600 square meters of operations deck and a 600-square meter lab area.

The scientific research vessel , whose name means 'the East Is Red' in Chinese, can also probe water, the seabed and atmosphere comprehensively and accurately realize ship-to-land information network connectivity.

It will be one of the marine integrated research ships with the most reliable and genuine scientific research data in the world for some time, the report said.

Founded in 1865, Jiangnan Shipyard has been state owned ever since then.

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World's largest silent research vessel delivered in Shanghai
New China TV
Published on May 31, 2019

Journey begins! The world's largest silent research vessel, Dongfanghong No. 3, has been delivered in Shanghai. Find out what edgy features the Chinese-built ship has.
 
China develops semi-submersible aquaculture platform
Source: Xinhua| 2019-07-04 14:41:54|Editor: Liangyu

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- China has developed a semi-submersible aquaculture platform that harnesses ocean wave energy, according to its developer.

Developed by the Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the platform integrates multiple functions including power generation, deep-sea aquaculture and tourism.

Some traditional aquaculture cages have problems including poor resistance to wind and waves, insufficient energy supply and inability to carry modern aquaculture facilities. Based on decades of experience in ocean wave energy development, researchers developed the semi-submersible platform that can harness ocean wave energy and received patents from China, Japan and the European Union.

The prototype of the platform has been delivered, and the institute will cooperate with companies to test it in a marine environment and further improve it.

The platform shows China's growing capacity in offshore aquaculture equipment and engineering, and is expected to promote the development of marine economy, according to the institute.

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