On the morning of April 8, China's first self-built polar research icebreaker "Snow Dragon 2" arrived in Hong Kong to carry out China's 40th Antarctic expedition mission and will begin a five-day visit. All walks of life in Hong Kong held a warm welcoming ceremony at Harbor City in Tsim Sha Tsui. This is the first time the "Snow Dragon 2" has visited Hong Kong. It is also the first time that China's polar scientific research icebreaker has visited Hong Kong in nearly 20 years since the "Snow Dragon" docked in Hong Kong in 2004. Visited Hong Kong again.
According to reports, in order to commemorate the 40th anniversary of China’s polar expedition, the "Snow Dragon 2" will carry out a series of activities for five consecutive days in Hong Kong, including holding a "Snow Dragon 2" open day, scientific research exchanges, popular science lectures and a series of patriotic publicity and education and science communication, etc. During this visit, in addition to Zhang Beichen, leader and chief scientist of China's 40th Antarctic Expedition, and Xiao Zhimin, captain of the "Snow Dragon 2", many of the country's top polar scientists and university professors also participated in the visit.
The "Xuelong 2" polar research icebreaker is China's fourth polar research ship after the "Xiangyanghong 10", "Jiji" and "Xuelong". It has a total length of 122.5 meters and a displacement of nearly 14,000 tons. The total installed power is 23.2 MW and the capacity is 101 people.
China's 40th Antarctic expedition is organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources. The expedition team consists of more than 460 people from more than 80 domestic units and will depart from China on November 1, 2023. Recently, the "Snow Dragon 2" carrying out China's 40th Antarctic expedition mission picked up the expedition team at the Antarctic Qinling Station and set off back to China. (Headquarters reporter Jin Dongzhou Weiqi)