In recent years, Shanghai Jiao Tong University has served the national maritime power strategy and the building of Shanghai as a science and technology innovation center through its “Greater Marine” strategy, pooling disciplinary strengths to build a cross-disciplinary innovation research platform for marine equipment. In 2019 it was approved to build the Ministry of Education’s integrated research platform for deep-sea heavy-duty operations equipment, and on that basis it was approved in 2021 to establish the Shanghai Changxing Marine Laboratory, a new type of research institution centered on high-end marine equipment development that is building a quasi-industrial laboratory, with deep-sea equipment and resource development among its four priority research directions. With support from a Shanghai Science and Technology Commission Science and Technology Innovation Action Plan project, the university developed the Kaituo 1 (Pioneer 1) deep-sea mining vehicle and completed a 1,300-meter sea trial. In 2021 it won approval for a Shanghai Development and Reform Commission major project for strategic emerging industries, and it has now completed development of the Kaituo 2 (Pioneer 2) deep-sea mining vehicle and a 4,000-meter-class sea trial. The successful development of the Kaituo series of mining vehicles will help make the Shanghai Changxing Marine Laboratory an important research base for China’s deep-sea mining technology.
On July 9, the Shanghai Municipal Government Information Office held a major results announcement event, declaring that China had achieved a major breakthrough in key technology research and equipment development for deep-sea mineral resource extraction, with the deep-sea heavy-duty operations mining vehicle Kaituo 2, independently developed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, having recently completed its sea trial. The event was held at the university’s Shanghai Changxing Marine Laboratory. Attendees included Qiu Wenjin, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission; Zheng Guanghong, second-level inspector of the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission; Wu Zhaozhong, deputy party group secretary and executive deputy director of the Shanghai Changxing Island Development and Construction Administrative Committee; and Zhang Zhitong, deputy district head of Chongming District. Expert commentary was given by Li Jiabiao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering at the Second Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources, and Li Maolin, director of the State Key Laboratory of Deep-Sea Mineral Resources Development and Utilization Technology and chief technical expert of China Minmetals. Also attending were Lin Zhongqin, academician and head of the Shanghai Changxing Marine Laboratory; Xi Lifeng, executive vice president; Hu Hao, member of the university party standing committee and head of the publicity department; and Yang Jianmin, chief scientist of Kaituo 2, among other leaders and experts. The event was chaired by Wang Lei, head of the press release division of the Shanghai Municipal Government Information Office. Nearly 30 journalists from central and Shanghai media gathered at the laboratory to cover the event.
Xi Lifeng, Qiu Wenjin and Zheng Guanghong presented background information. Yang Jianmin, chair professor at the School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering and chief scientist of Kaituo 2, gave a detailed account of the vehicle’s Western Pacific sea trial, covering the background and significance of deep-sea mining, Kaituo 2’s technical breakthroughs and the deep-sea trial itself. In the trial, Kaituo 2 operated continuously in force 6 winds and sea state 4, completing five deep dives to the seabed and its planned heavy-duty operations tasks, reaching a maximum heavy-load operating depth of 4,102.8 meters and recovering about 200 kilograms of seabed mineral samples including polymetallic crusts and nodules. It set six national records: the first deep-sea mining vehicle heavy-load operation at 4,102.8 meters with recovery of large quantities of deep-sea ore, and pioneering technologies for high-mobility driving over complex deep-sea terrain, composite drilling and extraction of multiple mineral types, intelligent fine control of deep-water heavy-duty operations, non-metallic cable deployment and recovery of deep-sea heavy loads, and monitoring and assessment of deep-sea environmental disturbance. The successful sea trial marks a key step for China’s deep-sea mining from exploration toward extraction, sets an example for China’s development of hard-technology deep-sea equipment, and will strongly promote the development of deep-sea mining as a strategic emerging industry. Lin Zhongqin, Qiu Wenjin and Zheng Guanghong then unveiled the ore samples collected during the sea trial.
Li Jiabiao said that Kaituo 2’s simultaneous extraction of large quantities of different mineral resource types, including polymetallic crusts and nodules, on rugged, complex seabed at 4,100 meters of water depth is a milestone in China’s deep-sea mining equipment trials, and he expressed hope that the project team would continue working to provide important technical support for the development of China’s strategic emerging industries. Li Maolin said the sea trial was a successful test by Shanghai and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in implementing the national maritime power and resource security strategies, and expressed hope that the university would join hands with China Minmetals to make new and greater contributions to China’s development of deep-sea mineral resources.
At the event, the Kaituo 2 research team answered detailed questions from journalists. The Kaituo 1 and Kaituo 2 mining vehicles were displayed on site, along with the seabed mineral samples collected during the sea trial.
Building on the sea trial, the Shanghai Changxing Marine Laboratory will continue in-depth research on key technologies for deep-sea heavy-duty operations equipment and develop a new generation of deep-sea mining vehicles with even greater operating capability, contributing to China’s drive to build internationally leading innovation capability in deep-sea heavy-duty operations equipment.
