China's icebreaker gears up for new Antarctic expedition

The Chinese research vessel and icebreaker Xuelong, or "Snow Dragon," left Shanghai for Tianjin Saturday, where it will soon set sail for a six-month Antarctic expedition Xuelong, an A2-class icebreaker capable of breaking ice 1.2 meters thick, will leave the northern port of Tianjin on November 3 for the vessel's 28th voyage since 1984. Its crew of 220 will work on 31 scientific research assignments, a spokesman for the project in Shanghai said. The ship will bring supplies to two of China's three Antarctic stations. It will also drop off a scientific research team at the third station, Kunlun, which is located at the highest point on the Antarctic continent at 4,093 meters above sea level, officials have said. Xuelong will cover an estimated 31,000 nautical miles over the course of the expedition and return to Shanghai in April 2012. China plans to launch five Antarctic research expeditions and three Arctic expeditions from 2011 to 2015, with researchers focusing on monitoring weather and environmental changes in polar regions.