On the morning of March 20, the scientific research vessel "Science", carrying more than 50 researchers, set sail from its home port in Qingdao to carry out a two-month deep-sea investigation mission in the western Pacific Ocean, marking the official resumption of this year's far-reaching sea research mission by the Oceanographic Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Wang Fan, director of the Oceanographic Institute and head of the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control leading group, attended the opening ceremony.

▲Sailing ceremony

Captain listened to the "science", director wang fang Sun Qijun about voyage for navigation and report the epidemic prevention and control, emergency plans, and so on and so forth, for everyone in the very period for the epidemic prevention and control and ensure the voyage smoothly and thank the efforts of the operation security and epidemic prevention and control of the ships at sea, such as contingency plans put forward further requirements, and told everyone to take good care of yourself, Successfully complete the voyage mission and return to sea at an early date.

▲The Science moved slowly away from its home port

A great event is difficult to bear, a moment of crisis to show their true colors. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the Scientific research Ship Operation and Management Center has taken urgent actions to ensure that all prevention and control measures and quarantine measures are implemented in a detailed manner, and the ship safety fortress is firmly built to safeguard the health of every crew member and ensure that the ship is always in a seaworthy state.

During the COVID-19 epidemic, the scientific research ship, on the premise of doing a good job in epidemic prevention, has made every effort to do a good job in ship maintenance and equipment debugging to ensure that the ship is seaworthy at any time. The personnel on duty at the ladder should strengthen the control of the ladder and prohibit irrelevant personnel from boarding the ship. All departments on board shall do a good job in the maintenance of ship equipment to ensure that the ship can be used for scientific research at any time, and that it can stand up and carry at critical moments.

▲Scientific research ship epidemic prevention slogan

▲Disinfect the inside of the research ship

To ensure the smooth conduct of the voyage the ship itself tube center for regular for navigation at the same time, strengthen epidemic prevention and control mechanism, established the "scientific" COVID team - 19 epidemic prevention and control work, formulated in combination with the working practice of the "science" for COVID voyage - 19 epidemic prevention and control measures and emergency plan, and implement the prevention and control measures to comprehensively strengthen epidemic prevention and control. Adequate amounts of epidemic prevention and control materials are provided according to the needs and all areas are regularly disinfected according to the regulations; The track and status of the voyage personnel should be traced in advance, and the body temperature should be measured and registered every day. Before the voyage, the professional testing institutions should conduct a combined throat and nose test on the voyage personnel to ensure that the voyage personnel are in good physical condition. The ship is equipped with a professional general practitioner to further improve the medical security conditions on board during the voyage and ensure the health of the sailors. 

▲Pharyngeal and nasal tests were performed on the expedition team members by medical staff

During the preparation period, the COVID-19 prevention and control team of the Oceanographic Institute provided the ship with prevention and control materials such as protective suits, medical masks and goggles, as well as support for epidemic prevention and control and physical health testing of sailing personnel, which provided a solid backing for the smooth progress of the voyage. 

In the next step, the crew of the "Science" will consciously practice the spirit of ocean people who are not afraid of dangers, not afraid of exploration, brave to go beyond, and dare to be a pioneer, adopt the most rigorous plan and the most powerful measures to successfully complete the scientific investigation tasks during the epidemic, and make new contributions to the cause of national Marine scientific investigation.

(Article source: Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences wechat official account)