China continues its push in the Arctic and plans to send a manned mission to the seafloor.
China’s ambitions in the Arctic remain unabated. A few days after the end of its first polar patrol off the coast of Alaska, authorities revealed plans to launch a manned expedition to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean.
The project reminds us of Russia’s successful mission to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean in 2007. Planting the Russian flag on the seafloor was widely criticized at the time. If China can reach the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, it will become the second country to do so.
The mission will be led by China’s new polar research vessel, “Tansu-3″, which is expected to be put into service in 2025. “Tansu-3” is the latest generation of domestically produced Arctic research icebreakers. Ships. Its construction, from cutting steel to launching, took less than 10 months. The slightly younger J.D. preceded him.
Preliminary tests of the submarine, including underwater docking and low-temperature performance, have been completed. According to developers at China State Shipbuilding Corporation, the ship was developed domestically. Previous submarines, including the Struggler, which reached Challenger depth in 2020, were partly based on Western technology.
According to the 704 Institute, also known as the Shanghai Institute of Marine Equipment, the submarine “can be widely used in the future for polar scientific research, deep-sea oil and gas mineral resource exploration and production, marine engineering construction and maintenance of submarine pipelines.” [and] search and rescue operations.”
China is actively pursuing its sovereignty claims over the South China Sea seabed. Despite being thousands of miles from the North Pole, China’s 2018 white paper defined it as a “near-Arctic state,” a claim strongly rejected by the United States and other Western Arctic countries.
The country stepped up its commitment to the Arctic in the summer and fall of 2024. It sent three icebreakers to the region, with the United States having no surface ships in the Arctic. China’s latest icebreaker then visited Murmansk, Russia’s main Arctic port.
A few weeks later, the two countries conducted their first joint Arctic patrol, sailing nearly 12,000 nautical miles and approaching the coast of Alaska. China aims for the Arctic seafloor with a manned mission. The return of the ships was prominently displayed on China’s Weibo page, highlighting the patrol’s accomplishments.
China’s commercial interest in Arctic shipping has also reached new highs this year, with crude oil deliveries and container traffic hitting record highs.
