China has carried out its first manned deep dive beneath the Arctic ice, as part of its 15th and largest Arctic Ocean scientific expedition, which concluded last month.
The mission also marked the world’s first coordinated operation between a crewed and uncrewed submersible in the polar region. During the dives, researchers collected hundreds of deep-sea samples and gathered data on biodiversity, ocean hydrology, sea ice conditions, and water chemistry.
The expedition covered a wide area of the central Arctic Ocean, providing valuable insights into deep-sea ecosystems and climate change, with the goal to support data analysis and improve our understanding of the Arctic’s changing environment.
Upgraded Jiaolong submersible leads China’s first crewed dives
China’s latest Arctic Ocean expedition brought together an advanced research fleet that included the domestically built icebreaker Xue Long 2, the Jidi icebreaker, the research vessel Tansuo 3, and the research ship Shenhai 1 carrying the Jiaolong manned submersible, the South China Morning Post reported.
Departing from Qingdao in eastern Shandong province in July, the fleet sailed as far north as latitude 77.5 degrees, carrying out marine environmental surveys and deep-sea dives, according to CCTV.
The large-scale mission – the country’s most extensive Arctic expedition to date – concluded on September 26, when the final 100 researchers returned to Shanghai aboard Xue Long 2. The upgraded Jiaolong submersible performed China’s first crewed dives in ice-covered Arctic waters, gathering valuable data and samples from extreme depths.
According to Fu Wentao, chief pilot of the Jiaolong manned submersible, the team expanded the vessel’s usual single-point operating method during the Arctic mission. They carried out a coordinated dive with a remotely operated vehicle, addressing challenges such as underwater communication, positioning accuracy, and synchronized movement. Fu noted that the successful trial marked an important step toward more complex joint operations in future deep-sea expeditions.
Jiaolong submersible collects 183 samples
In August, China’s Arctic expedition carried out a series of joint dives featuring the Jiaolong manned submersible and a remotely operated vehicle, marking a new milestone in polar research. During these missions, the two vehicles filmed each other underwater while collecting valuable biological and geological material from the Arctic seabed.
Over the course of more than ten dives, Jiaolong gathered 183 biological samples – including shrimps, sea spiders, and sea anemones – along with sediment, rock, and seawater specimens for further analysis.
According to the National Deep Sea Centre in Qingdao, the biological and geological samples collected during the Arctic dives were of notably higher quality than those obtained through traditional trawling methods. These improved samples are expected to support more precise morphological identification and further scientific study.
In addition, researchers from the Second Institute of Oceanography under China’s Ministry of Natural Resources employed AI tools and environmental DNA detection techniques to enhance the identification and classification of deep-sea organisms, marking a step forward in the integration of advanced technologies in marine research.