China's first deep-ocean drilling vessel enters service

China's first domestically built ocean drilling vessel — Mengxiang, or Dream — was commissioned in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Sunday, marking a major leap in the nation's deep-sea exploration and mining endeavors.

The colossal ship was mainly designed by the Marine Design and Research Institute of China in Shanghai and was constructed by Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding Co in Guangzhou.

Both the institute and the shipyard are part of China State Shipbuilding Corp, a State-owned conglomerate and the world's largest shipbuilder.

The ship's construction began in November 2021 and was close to completion in December 2023. It underwent several sea trials before the commissioning.

With a length of 179.8 meters and a width of 32.8 meters, the ship displaces 42,600 metric tons of water can travel about 27,800 kilometers, and sustain itself for 120 days without needing resupply. A typical scientific expedition can accommodate 180 sailors and researchers.

It can operate in any ocean except the Polar Regions and will be able to drill as far as 11,000 meters beneath the sea into tectonic plates, according to designers.

The vessel is equipped with the world's most advanced drilling system and has four drilling modes depending on its specific tasks.

An area of more than 3,000 square meters is reserved on the vessel for nine laboratories involved in basic geology, paleomagnetism, organic geochemistry, microbiology, geophysics, drilling technology and other academic disciplines.

Its major user is the China Geological Survey under the Ministry of Natural Resources.

It is expected to strengthen China's capabilities in deep-sea resources exploration and the development of key technologies and hardware, and will serve the efforts of scientists around the globe to fulfill ocean drills, said a news release from the Ministry of Natural Resources.