Icebreaker sets off on Antarctic expedition

THE icebreaker Xuelong will depart Shanghai today on China’s 35th Antarctic expedition.

The team of 351 will construct a fifth Antarctic research station on an island in the Ross Sea and complete the second stage of the Taishan Station.

The research vessel is expected to return mid April next year after traveling 37,000 nautical miles, according to the Polar Research Institute of China.

Xia Limin, deputy director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, said the research team will build on the nation's observation network in the Antarctic, research marine environmental protection, and improve the environment around the stations.

The team will also work on the construction of an airfield and runway on an ice cap near the Zhongshan Station.

Sun Bo, deputy director of the institute and leader of the research team, said the construction work will be ecologically friendly.

Zhang Tijun, head of the construction team of the new station, said they are planning to establish a reserve for penguins.

An inland team will carry out projects such as ice drilling and a geodetic survey at Kunlun Station.

“This time we will have communication and cooperation with 10-plus countries in the Antarctic,” Sun said. “We also have some members from Thailand on Xuelong.”

Cooperating countries include the US, New Zealand, Australia, Russia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil.