While sailing around the world aboard China's oceanographic research ship, the Dayang Yihao (Ocean No 1), in 2005, Lu Huisheng and his crew encountered 14 hurricanes.

On one particularly tempestuous day, two storms closed in on the ship from different directions, and waves as high as 6 meters crashed over the deck as the crew struggled to navigate the craft to safer waters. After 15 hours of fighting against the storm, the exhausted crew arrived in a calmer part of the ocean.

Surely, the nearly 300-day adventure was tiring, but upon returning from China's first around-the-world oceanographic research expedition on January 22, 2006, the captain was eager to immediately stretch his sea legs again.

Since becoming captain of Dayang Yihao in 2002, Lu has led his crew on six missions, spending a total of 925 days at sea. During this time, he sailed a distance of 128,000 nautical miles (237,000 kilometers), which is equivalent to circumnavigating the equator six times.

The Dayang Yihao is a 5,600-ton oceanographic research ship equipped with a comprehensive array of technologically advanced facilities. It was purchased by the China Ocean Mineral Resources R&D Association from the Russian Bureau for Far East Marine Geology Survey in 1994 and was reequipped in 2002. Since 1995, the ship has undertaken seven missions related to the research and development of oceanic mineral resources, in addition to several missions to survey the ocean floor.

On April 4, 2005, Dayang Yihao set off from Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, to commemorate the 600th anniversary of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) navigator Zheng He's exploration of the Atlantic Ocean. Lu and more than 100 seamen set off for China's first around-the-world scientific research mission in modern times.

At one point during the voyage, they worked at sea for more than 113 days without landing. For 86 of those days, they were without vegetables.

On December 17, 2005, the crew succeeded in getting a hydrothermal sulfide sample measuring 30 centimeters in diameter and 70 centimeters long from 2,430 meters below the ocean's surface. The sample provided important data for scientists studying deep-sea environments.

After 297 days at sea, Dayang Yihao returned home. By that point, Lu had traveled 43,230 nautical miles (80,000 kilometers) - equivalent to circumnavigating the equator twice. The mission has fulfilled the long-held Chinese dream of making a transoceanic voyage among the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean and set 16 new oceanographic research records.

At the ceremony celebrating the crew's return, a teary-eyed Lu escorted his 70-year-old mother onboard. "Only once the ship was safely moored to its berth could I totally relax," Lu says.

"I am just an ordinary seaman. Being elected as the captain makes me feel greater pressure and responsibility," Lu says.

Lu points out that much has changed in seafaring voyages since ancient times.

"The purpose of navigation in ancient times was to explore sea routes," he says. "Technology has allowed us to explore farther and deeper than before. The biggest difference is that we have new techniques for ensuring that no problems occur during voyages, which is what we call 'Format 100-1=0'.

"The most important thing to me is safety."

Life at sea is unpredictable, and hurricanes, rainstorms, strong currents and submerged reefs may appear anywhere, at any time. Lu and his crew developed 45 ship-operation protocols, which ensured their missions never encountered any major problem.

And seafaring life can be excruciatingly boring. In order to keep ennui from overcoming the crew, Lu organizes birthday parties, flag-raising ceremonies, screens of the latest movies and classical music performances.

Guo Shiqin, the nation's leading oceanographer, received a particularly special birthday present from Lu - a uniquely made map of China. Lu asked a journalist to etch the map onto a piece of plastic foam. He then lowered the foam 3,000 meters into the depths of the ocean, where pressure created interesting impressions on the map.

"This is the best birthday present I have ever received," Guo said at his onboard birthday party.

Lu took each stopover as an opportunity to promote China and Olympics. He welcomed visitors aboard the ship at Capetown in South Africa, Pohnpe in Micronesia, Kingston in Jamaica, and many other cities around the globe.

This May, Lu was elected a delegate of the 17th National Congress of Communist Party of China. "I am proud of being a delegate and also shoulder greater responsibilities, since we still have a lot more to do in our oceanographic research," Lu says.

(China Daily 10/22/2007 page10)