By Sun Xiaohua (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-11 07:34

HONG KONG: Dayang Yihao, or Ocean No 1, China's most advanced scientific research ship, arrived here on a maiden visit on Friday.

If weather permits, it will open its decks to 5,000 Hong Kong visitors at the weekend.

The ship will showcase some of its scientific findings from a just completed 220-day voyage.

China's only deep-sea research vessel, the Dayang Yihao recently discovered active hydrothermal vents, or "black smokers", on a ridge in the Indian Ocean.

Black smokers are formed when super-heated water from the ocean floor surfaces.

Sulfides in the superheated water often crystallize to create a chimney-like structure around the vent.

"The findings mark China as one of the few countries in the world which has the advanced technology to carry out such studies," Tao Chunhui, one of the four chief scientists on the vessel, said.

He said research into microscopic organisms on the smoky ocean floor could shed light on the origins of life.

Wang Fei, deputy head of the State Oceanic Administration, said at the welcoming ceremony, the vessel had and will make great contributions to China's economic development by doing research and exploring more resources.

Wang said the stopover in Hong Kong was an opportunity for scientists from the mainland and Hong Kong, as well as the public, to boost communications and foster friendly relations.

(China Daily 08/11/2007 page3)