A Crewed Submersible Has Been Sent Under The Arctic's Ice By China For The First Time

As geopolitical interest in the Arctic heats up, China has just pulled off its first dive under the Arctic ice in a crewed submersible vehicle. 

The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

Described as “a leap in deep-sea exploration capabilities,” four Chinese research vessels docked in Shanghai on Friday, September 26, after completing the country’s largest-ever scientific exploration in the Arctic Ocean. 

One of the expedition’s biggest achievements was reportedly using the deep-sea submersible Jiaolong to send a crew of people to the bottom of the sea in the Arctic Ocean below ice-covered waters – an accomplishment that only a handful of nations have ever pulled off.

ⓘ IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.

The US was the first to pioneer this feat during the Cold War. In 1958, USS Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine, completed the submerged transit of the North Pole, proving it was possible to operate beneath the Arctic pack ice. Several other US ships, including USS Skate and USS Pargo, followed suit in the following years. 

The USSR also managed to dive under the polar ice with their first nuclear submarine, Leninski Komsomolets, in 1962, followed by the British with their HMS Dreadnought in 1971.

Cruising under a sheet of ice with a crewed submersible is no easy feat, namely because of communications and navigation. Conventional technologies struggle to function reliably under ice, making it nearly impossible to use satellite systems, coordinate with surface ships, or maintain contact with command bases.

Polar waters are scattered with rogue chunks of ice that can pose a collision risk, not to mention the difficulties of operating machinery in sub-zero or near-zero temperatures.

Interest in Arctic submersible missions resurfaced dramatically in 2007 when Russia deployed its mini-subs Mir-1 and Mir-2 to plant its national flag on the Arctic seabed. While Moscow framed the act as an assertion of sovereignty over its territorial waters, many international observers interpreted it as a provocative bid to dominate Arctic resources and assert military influence.

And this is where China comes back into the picture. In recent years, the Arctic region has become a flashpoint in geopolitical power competition, with the US, Russia, and China vying for access to its untapped resources, strategic shipping corridors, and security interests. 

Climate change is only accelerating this race, as its melting ice unlocks new pathways and opportunities for exploitation.

China defined the High North as a “new strategic frontier” in 2015 and later declared itself a “near-Arctic” state. It's evident that science is a key part of this strategy. Between 2000 and 2024, the share of Chinese scientists publishing research on the Arctic increased fivefold, while the proportion of US scientists working on the topic declined significantly.

While the latest Chinese mission to the Arctic was scientific and peaceful in nature, the country clearly has a keen interest in the icy top of the world.