Not long ago, China's Antarctic research ship accidentally hit an iceberg while on a mission, and the root cause of the accident was the sudden thick fog that obstructed the line of sight, which led to the collision. Although the professionals in the scientific team reacted quickly and successfully mitigated the damage caused by the collision, it still caused the mast in the bow to break and the bow to be covered with huge blocks of ice. So how challenging is the Antarctic expedition? Although technology has come a long way, why is it difficult to cope with natural phenomena such as dense fog?
Dense fog at sea is one of the most frequently encountered situations during navigation, and this phenomenon is difficult to predict in advance and appears without obvious signs. In the Antarctic research area, high-latitude seas are particularly vulnerable. The area where the Snow Dragon sails is between 55 and 65 latitudes, near the Antarctic continent, just in the area of a low-pressure trough. In this area, cyclones often form, sometimes even 4 or 5 cyclones at the same time. These cyclones carry warm, moist air currents from the westerly wind belt to cold waters at high latitudes, creating large swaths of dense fog at sea.
Collision between ships and icebergs is an extremely dangerous accident, and the famous Titanic eventually sank due to collisions with icebergs. Although the Snow Dragon was much more technologically advanced than the Titanic, it still faced great danger under the circumstances of the time. At that time, the Titanic could only rely on a telescope to observe the location of the iceberg, and the dense fog caused the vision to be obstructed, and the final judgment was wrong, which led to the accident. Although the Xue Long is an advanced research vessel, the Antarctic environment is extremely complicated by a variety of factors, including ice floes, icebergs and cyclones.
Although the application of radar technology has significantly improved the safety of ships and solved the problem of dense fog obscuring the line of sight to some extent, the environment in which the Xue Long sails makes this advantage difficult to exploit. The reflected signal makes it difficult to distinguish between icebergs and ice floes, and while the Snow Dragon, as an icebreaker, is relatively easy to face obstacles such as ice floes, it is more challenging to fight icebergs. Fortunately, thanks to advanced technology and reliable shipbuilding techniques, the Xuelong did not suffer major damage, and the core equipment was not affected, except that there was an extra huge block of ice of several hundred tons in the bow, and it may take a while to clear this trouble.
Scientific expedition means the exploration of unknown territory, which naturally comes with danger and uncertainty. Despite the continuous progress of human science and technology, we still seem insignificant in the face of nature.