China leads historic Arctic expedition with crewed, uncrewed submersibles

China has completed its largest Arctic Ocean scientific expedition to date, highlighted by the first manned deep dive beneath Arctic ice using the upgraded Jiaolong submersible. This mission, part of China’s 15th Arctic expedition, also achieved the world’s first coordinated operation between a crewed submersible and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in polar waters. The expedition, which departed from Qingdao in July and concluded in late September, involved a fleet including the icebreakers Xue Long 2 and Jidi, research vessels Tansuo 3 and Shenhai 1, and covered areas as far north as latitude 77.5 degrees. Researchers collected hundreds of biological, geological, and chemical samples, gaining new data on biodiversity, ocean hydrology, sea ice, and water chemistry. During over ten joint dives, the Jiaolong submersible and the ROV filmed each other and gathered 183 biological specimens such as shrimps, sea spiders, and sea anem