Chinese research ship docks in Hong Kong on return stopover after deep-sea mission

Shenhai Yihao, the mother ship of the Jiaolong submersible, docked at the Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui on Tuesday, where it will remain for two days.

Scientists on the mission are scheduled to give four lectures at the Hong Kong Science Museum and hold a seminar to present their latest findings.

“This is not only an opportunity to exchange scientific research results, but also allows more Hong Kong citizens, especially young people, to realise the country’s outstanding development in deep-sea research,” Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing said at a welcome ceremony.

The ship recently concluded a 45-day research mission to explore seamounts – underwater mountains that are among the least-surveyed places on Earth. It collected more than 600 biological samples and found a dozen potential new species.

The 60 crew members included three scientists from Hong Kong, seven from mainland China and eight from other countries, making this the first time international researchers took part in a Chinese mission’s design, sampling, and scientific research.

The non-mainland scientists were led by Qiu Jianwen, a professor and associate head of the biology department at Baptist University. He was part of the crew in one of Jiaolong’s test dives in 2013 and completed another dive during a recent mission.