China’s first domestically designed and built deep-ocean drilling vessel, the Meng Xiang, has officially entered service in Guangzhou, marking a significant milestone in deep-sea exploration.
The Meng Xiang is set to revolutionize ocean drilling, a field essential for studying the Earth’s internal composition, structural formations, and the vast energy resources hidden beneath the ocean floor. As the only means of sampling from the deep ocean floor, ocean drilling vessels are critical to advancing our understanding of the planet.
With this achievement, China joins the ranks of the United States and Japan as the only countries possessing their own ocean drilling vessels\u2014following the U.S.’s JOIDES Resolution and Japan’s Chikyu.
Boasting a gross tonnage of 33,000 tonnes, a length of 179.8 meters, and a beam of 32.8 meters, the Meng Xiang can operate continuously for 120 days and has a range of up to 15,000 nautical miles. Remarkably, it is currently the only drilling vessel capable of ultra-deepwater drilling at depths of up to 11 kilometers, surpassing the JOIDES Resolution’s 7,500 meters and the Chikyu’s 9,500 meters.
“It can conduct drilling operations anywhere in the world’s major sea areas, and its key role is to solve scientific problems,” said Wang Chengshan, a geologist and member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
One of the vessel’s ambitious goals is to penetrate the Mohorovičić discontinuity, or Moho\u2014the boundary between the Earth’s crust and the mantle. This groundbreaking endeavor could provide unprecedented insights into the Earth’s largest “chemical reservoir,” which makes up four-fifths of the Earth’s volume and three-quarters of its mass.
“The Meng Xiang brings hope to this scientific exploration goal that humanity has long aspired to achieve,” said Sun Zhen, a researcher at the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey (GMGS) under China Geological Survey.
Equipped with the world’s first hydraulic lifting rig capable of both oil and gas exploration as well as core sampling, the vessel features high intelligence and integration. It houses nine specialized research labs covering fields such as geology, paleomagnetism, microbiology, and marine science. Spanning over 3,000 square meters, the laboratory area is the largest among current scientific research ships.
“In a sense, the vessel is a mobile national laboratory,” noted Zhou Yang, leader of the manufacturing supervision group at the GMGS. “It enables fast and accurate onboard analysis.”
The Meng Xiang is expected to undertake major national scientific projects and participate in large-scale international science programs. It aims to address cutting-edge scientific issues such as Moho drilling, the safe and efficient development of deep-sea energy resources, and marine disaster prevention and reduction.
“The vessel will focus on serving national energy resource security, advancing scientific and technological self-reliance, and meeting the needs of building a maritime power,” said Xu Zhenqiang, director of GMGS.
With supporting infrastructure like the drilling support ship, deepwater scientific research dock, and the world’s largest ocean drilling core repository already in place, the Meng Xiang is poised to complete its first ocean drilling mission within the next two years.
Reference(s):
China's deep-ocean drilling vessel expected to advance sea exploration
cgtn.com
