China, Russia relaunch joint maritime research missions, eyeing Arctic ambitions
First joint maritime expedition in 5 years will explore evolution of seas and global climate implications, experts say
For the first time in five years, China and Russia have set sail on a joint oceanographic expedition, a research mission to learn more about the evolution of oceans and the forces behind global climate change.
A total of 25 members from the two countries are on board the research ship Akademik M.A. Lavrentyev, which left the port of Vladivostok on Tuesday, according to China’s First Institute of Oceanography (FIO) under the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The ninth such expedition for the two countries – and the first since the pandemic – is focused on the effects of a changing climate on deep-sea environments, according to Chinese authorities.
The expedition, jointly launched by FIO and the Pacific Oceanological Institute (POI) at the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is expected to last 45 days, during which researchers will conduct environmental surveys in the Bering Sea and the northwestern Pacific Ocean. They will explore the response systems and feedback effects in the region over the last 126,000 years, a period known as the Late Quaternary.
The FIO said on its website that the scientists would investigate source-to-sink sediment processes, which are the cycles of deposit movement from land into water.
“The resumption of China-Russia joint oceanographic surveys shows [a] shared commitment to addressing global climate change and exploring cutting-edge marine science, and marks a new chapter in bilateral marine research cooperation,” said Wang Jun, acting head of the Chinese consulate general in Vladivostok, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua.