Icebreaker returns home early after hitting iceberg
The Chinese icebreaker Xuelong, carrying the 349 members of China's 35th research mission to Antarctica, returned to Shanghai safely on Tuesday, about a month earlier than originally scheduled due to a collision with an iceberg.
Despite the Jan 19 collision in the Amundsen Sea, the crew managed to carry out comprehensive research at five stations, including Changcheng, Zhongshan and Taishan, aerial geophysical remote sensing observation in the southeast polar ice cap, and marine surveys in the Amundsen Sea.
"Our team obtained valuable data and samples on the expedition, and filled the scientific gaps in the investigation of the Amundsen Sea area," said Li Yuhong, an assistant researcher from No 3 Marine Institute of the Department of Natural Resources, who joined the 35th expedition.
