China’s Jiaolong manned submersible has carried out the world’s first joint underwater operation with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in the Arctic Ocean, the China Media Group (CMG) reported on Saturday. The achievement comes as part of China’s 15th scientific expedition to the Arctic, the country’s largest-ever exploration in the region.
The joint operation represents a significant technological advancement. Historically, manned submersibles like Jiaolong operated independently at fixed points underwater. “This time, we expanded its operational capabilities,” said Fu Wentao, chief pilot of Jiaolong during its first Arctic dive. “We tried a collaborative operation between the Jiaolong and an ROV, which required solving challenges such as communication and positioning before moving on to the next step of joint operations.”
The first joint dive, conducted on August 14, tested underwater precision positioning and communication while verifying a two-submersible operation model. The second dive on August 15 involved a fully coordinated mission in which the ROV filmed Jiaolong collecting biological and sediment samples. The manned submersible transferred rocks and operational markers to the ROV, and the two vehicles captured video footage of each other on the Arctic seabed.
According to Li Dewei, a project leader at the National Deep Sea Center, “The collaborative operation of manned submersibles and ROVs can achieve a synergy where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” compensating for the limitations of manned vehicles in large-scale underwater sampling. Li added that the deep integration of human creativity and machine precision represents an inevitable trend for future deep-sea exploration.
The expedition also employed a novel survey method combining AI-based identification with environmental DNA detection to study deep-sea life. More than 10,000 images of seabed organisms supported AI-powered biological identification, while eDNA helped verify results, enhancing the accuracy of the research.
The 15th Arctic expedition, concluded in late September, involved four vessels: Xuelong 2, Jidi, Shenhai 1, and Tansuo 3. Preliminary studies revealed significant differences in benthic organism density, biodiversity, and individual body size across Arctic regions. These findings are expected to improve understanding of the spatial distribution of polar deep-sea organisms and assess the impacts of climate change on fragile deep-sea ecosystems, according to China’s Ministry of Natural Resources.
