China has completed a new milestone in deep-sea exploration with the return of its latest research vessel.
The ship Tan Suo Yi Hao arrived at its home port in Sanya, Hainan Province on Friday after completing its maiden mission to explore the Marianas Trench, China Daily reported. According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering.
The 94.45 meter-long ship runs on a 12,000 horsepower engine that allows it to have a maximum range of 10,000 nautical miles. It houses several laboratories for studying the surrounding waters, as well as data processing and information equipment for analysis.
Manned by a crew of 60, including 39 researchers, the ship also serves as a base for a manned submersible that can dive to a depth of 4.5 kilometers.
During its 52-day mission, the Tan Suo Yi Hao conducted a series of 84 research projects in the Trench. Aside from using its submersibles, the ship also used the Haidou autonomous research vehicle and the Tianya and Hajiao landers to explore the seafloor.
Mission leader Liu Xincheng said they managed to collect a lot of samples from different depths in the trench. He also noted that this is the first time China has been able to conduct deep-sea studies at 10,000 meters.
Meanwhile, another deep-sea exploration ship has also started to conduct its own research, this time in Papua New Guinea. The ship Zhang Jian began conducting environmental exploration int the Solomon Sea off the coast of the country on Aug. 14, China.org reported.
The ship's staff collected sediment samples from the seafloor and conducted other experiments during the first day of their mission.