Oceanographers told a press conference on September
14 that data and seabed samples collected during the initial phase
of the country's first round-the-world research mission could be
valuable in increasing understanding of the ocean.
"The samples and data will greatly boost research
in biology and geosciences," said Wang Chunsheng, a marine
biologist from the State Oceanic Administration's Second Institute
of Oceanography.
Ocean No.1 is China's top marine research
ship, weighing in at 5,600 tons and equipped with state-of-the-art
equipment. It set off for the Pacific leg of its mission from
Qingdao in east China's Shandong
Province on April 2 with 30 crew members and 42 scientific
researchers.
This included joint work with US scientists from
the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Divers entered the US
Navy's Deep Submergence Vehicle, and Chinese scientists collected
deep-sea hydrothermal fluid samples, and micro and sea floor
sediment samples at depths ranging from 2,200 to 4,500 meters.
They collected a large number of seabed plants,
fish and other organisms that can be used in biological research,
Wang said. In addition, deep-sea marine data was recorded by a
5,000-metre-long anchor system.
"The mission gives researchers their best
opportunity to test China's latest self-developed marine technology
and to develop a group of ocean professionals," said Wang.
Ocean No.1 reached Acapulco de Juarez in
Mexico earlier this month via Hawaii before returning home.
The second phase, in the Atlantic and Indian
oceans, will begin later this month, traveling from Jamaica to
South Africa. The ship is due to return to Qingdao in February.
"The round-the-world mission not only realizes the
long-term dream in Chinese oceanographic circles for crossing the
three oceans, but will write a new and brilliant chapter in the
development of China's ocean undertakings," Wang said.
Central government allocated 5 billion yuan (US$602
million) for ocean research during the 10th Five-Year Plan period
(2001-05).
(China Daily September 22, 2005)