Polar icebreaker receives warm welcome
Xue Long 2 expedition team hopeful city will play role in future missions
China’s first domestically built polar research icebreaker, the Xue Long 2, will open its doors to Hongkongers from today, with a leader of its recent Antarctic expedition expressing hope the city will be involved in future missions.
Top officials, lawmakers and residents welcomed the ship yesterday morning as it docked in Tsim Sha Tsui for a five-day visit, its first stop at a Chinese port on its return journey from Antarctica.
Professor Ho Kin-chung, founder of visit organisers the Green Future Foundation Association and Polar Research Institute of Hong Kong, said mainland authorities had pledged to include Hongkongers in expeditions to come.
“We had a relaxed exchange with visiting mainland officials who made a verbal promise that Hong Kong scientists would be able to participate in Xue Long 2’s future missions,” he said ahead of the welcoming ceremony.
Expedition deputy leader Wang Jinhui said he would welcome the contribution of Hong Kong scientists and businesses.
“I hope Hong Kong’s scientists will participate more in our work. We also welcome industry participation in support and protection work,” Wang said.
The 400-foot, 14,000-tonne Xue Long 2, or Snow Dragon 2, entered service in 2019 and is equipped with world-class marine and research facilities. It has the world’s first dual-directional icebreaking capability at the bow and stern, and can freely rotate 360 degrees in place.
The vessel will be open to the public until Friday, but places will be allocated through an online ballot because of limited on-board capacity.
The ship has a “moon pool”, a deep shaft that opens to the ocean through the hull from an opening on the floor. Although the moon pool will not be opened, visitors can gauge the scale of its work from sample collection tubes on show.
The equipment was used to collect seawater for scientists to understand the marine environment of the Amundsen Sea, part of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica.
A tailor-made drone will also be on show. During the expedition, the drone was used to survey the landscape for a safe docking location or pick up buoys that had been left out to collect environmental data.
Visitors can also check out plant and animal samples in the ship’s laboratory. These include a jar of Antarctic krill, a small shrimp-like crustacean, and a wiry branch of gorgonian, a deepsea coral found in the southernmost area on Earth.
The ship’s bridge will also be open to the public. Visitors will be able to get a feel for the navigation process through sheet maps used by the expedition team. To ensure accuracy, officers first mark their route on a map before setting sail with the aid of electronic gear.
The icebreaker’s helipad is another tour highlight, with visitors getting a close-up of the “Snow Eagle 301” helicopter. Equipped with runners at its wheels, the helicopter was built for sturdy landings on ice and is used to transport scientists to research outposts.
Lawmaker Ma Fung-kwok, who chairs the organising committee for the visit and its associated events, said tickets for the first two days had all been snapped up.
Wei Fuhai, another deputy leader of the expedition team, said one of the major highlights of the tour would be the chance to see the moon pool, which helped the vessel access the ocean depths to collect samples and place equipment. “This is the equivalent of having a device that reaches the bottom of the sea in the middle of our vessel,” Wei said.
As Xue Long 2 arrived in Tsim Sha Tsui, it was flanked by tug boats spraying water into the air with two government helicopters flying overhead. Nine vessels from the Environmental Protection Department and various disciplined services led the way.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and Zheng Yanxiong, director of the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong, welcomed the ship’s 30-strong delegation which included team leader Zhang Beichen, the chief scientist of China’s 40th Antarctic expedition, and Captain Xiao Zhimin.
The visit coincides with a twoday conference on climate change organised by Chinese University. An exhibition on the topic and polar research at the Hong Kong Science Museum runs until June.