China has released the first details of an ambitious new plan to develop a deep-sea research facility “with the potential to transform marine exploration” which will be situated some 6,000 feet below the surface of the South China Sea.

As reported by the South China Morning Post this week, the facility is expected to be completed by 2030 with the ability to accommodate up to six scientists at a time who will inhabit the ‘deep sea space station’ for up to a month at a time.

It has been reported that the primary focus of the facility will be the study of ‘cold seep’ ecosystems in the area. These are unique environments that have previously been found to be teeming with life as well as home to vast deposits of methane hydrates, a resource earmarked for its potential source of energy.

Speaking with reporters from the South China Morning Post, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ South China Sea Institute of Oceanology have revealed a suite of details about the ambitious new project. 

These include that it will be equipped with an advanced life support system enabling scientists to operate at its depths over one month-long missions; host a permanent monitoring network to observe methane levels, ecological changes, and tectonic activity; and collaborate with a network of uncrewed submersibles, ships, and seabed observatories which will work together to establish a ‘four-dimensional’ monitoring system.

The project to construct the deep-sea facility, some 6,650 feet below the surface of the ocean comes with a long list of controversies, chief among them is the long-held territorial dispute encompassing vast regions of the South China Sea itself. 

The announcement of the project follows reports that Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence detected 62 Chinese military aircraft near the island territory last week. Taiwan is one of a number of countries in South East Asia – including Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei – that reject Beijing’s claims of sovereignty and each claim parts of the South China Sea.

It’s an area of highly sought after resources. In particular, the underwater region is rich in methane hydrate reserves, estimated at “70 billion tonnes” according to the South China Morning Post, which is roughly half of China’s current oil and gas reserves. 

Methane hydrates have been described as ice-like solids of methane and water, holding “significant potential” as an untapped energy resource. Then there are the vast reserves of valuable mineral deposits, including cobalt and nickel, believed to be held in the region.

A deep-sea research facility in the area would certainly solidify China’s position in the South China Sea. Details of the plans were revealed to the South China Morning Post by researcher, Yin Jianping, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ South China Sea Institute of Oceanology.

The announcement arrives two years on from initials details of a US-led mission to build an “underwater space station of the ocean” off the Caribbean island of Curacao to serve as an “underwater habitat” where scientists, innovators, private citizens, the public sector, and global customers can live underwater to study the ocean environment for “extended periods of time”.

The project is currently being developed by the NOAA and Proteus Ocean Group, an oceanic exploration organisation founded by Fabien Cousteau with the wider ambition of creating an international network of subsea habitats – a global ‘smart ocean’ platform – to advance collaboration in marine scientific research.

The global mission broke new ground at the end of last month when it signed a partnership with the Mirpuri Foundation to explore opportunities to launch a Smart Ocean Tech Platform in Portugal through a collaboration that will include shared scientific, environmental, and technology projects focused on climate change mitigation, pollution and ocean conservation, ocean storytelling, and sustainable marine management.

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