On the afternoon of March 28 (local time), the research vessel Ocean No.1 left Cape Town, South Africa, for its scientific research of the third section of its 52nd cruise.

It is reported that 42 people from 16 organizations participate in this section of cruise, including those from the First Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources (FIO, MNR), the Beihai Bureau of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Second Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The expedition is expected to be completed in early May when the vessel arrives at Port Louis, Mauritius.

Hailong III, the developed-in-China underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) with a max depth of 6,000 meters, will be mainly used in this section for carrying out environmental and biodiversity surveys in the hydrothermal vents area along the mid-ocean ridges in the Indian Ocean, and obtaining environmental baseline data and samples in the surveyed area. This helps China effectively implement the contractual obligations in the agreement signed between China and the International Seabed Authority.

Sun Chengjun from the First Institute of Oceanography, chief scientist of the third section of the 52nd cruise, said, "In this section, we mainly investigate the distribution of hydrothermal polymetallic sulphide in the mid-ocean ridges in the Indian Ocean, which is significant for enhancing our understanding of the ecology in such area".

Photo of all crew members of the third section in front of Ocean No.1