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QINGDAO, July 14, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Members of the expedition team prepare to disembark from Chinese research vessel Dayang Yihao (Ocean No. 1) in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, July 14, 2016. Dayang Yihao has successfully completed China's 39th oceanic expedition mission and returned Qingdao Thursday. The 216-day, 30,957-nautical-mile voyage has taken the vessel to the Indian Ocean to conduct a series of oceanic surveys on polymetallic sulphide, bio-resources and the environment. (Xinhua/Zhang Xudong)
QINGDAO, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese research vessel Dayang Yihao returned to its home port in Qingdao on Thursday afternoon after a voyage covering 31,000 nautical miles and lasting 216 days.
On China's 39th oceanic expedition mission, the vessel traveled to the Indian Ocean to conduct oceanic surveys into polymetallic sulphide and sea floor rare earth, as well as to take sea water and geological samples.
China and the International Seabed Authority signed a contract in 2011 granting China exclusive rights to search for polymetallic sulphide in a 10,000-square-km area in the southwest Indian Ocean for 15 years.
Li Huaiming, chief scientist of the expedition team, said breakthroughs made during the mission included obtaining sulphide core samples from hydrothermal zones for the first time.
