The Meng Xiang (Dream), China's first domestically designed and built deep-ocean drilling vessel, was officially commissioned in the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou on Sunday, marking a significant milestone in the country's deep-sea exploration technology.
The drilling ship, weighing 33,000 tons and measuring 179.8 meters in length and 32.8 meters in width, can operate continuously at sea for 120 days with a full crew of 180 members and travel up to 15,000 nautical miles.
More importantly, it is the world's only drilling vessel capable of reaching a depth of 11 kilometers.
Developed by the China Geological Survey under the Ministry of Natural Resources in collaboration with various partners, the vessel boasts advanced drilling capabilities and features the world's largest and most comprehensive onboard laboratory, covering over 3,000 square meters.
The laboratory includes nine specialized sub-labs for disciplines including marine biology, microbiology and paleomagnetism, utilizing digital twin technology to monitor drilling activities and support scientific research.
"The 'Meng Xiang' drilling ship is a fully domestically designed ultra-deepwater exploration unit. It boasts various capabilities, including natural gas hydrate exploration and sampling, deep-sea scientific drilling, and research into both deep-sea and open-ocean environments. By utilizing modular, mobile units, we've integrated these functions while maintaining a smaller tonnage, which makes it a global leader in deep-sea exploration," said Zhang Haibin, chief designer of the Meng Xiang drilling ship.
The ship is set to sail before the end of the year on its first 11,000-meter drilling mission. "The 'Meng Xiang' will serve as a platform for deep-sea resource exploration and be built into a mobile national laboratory, enabling scientists to analyze samples directly on board. This marks a significant step forward in achieving their scientific objectives," said Lei Yong, commissioner of the "Meng Xiang" project department at the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey of China Geological Survey.
China's first deep-ocean drilling vessel starts commissioning in Guangzhou
