China Completes 43 Manned Arctic Dives in 2025, Demonstrates Dual Submersible Operations Under Ice

China has completed 43 successful manned submersible dives during its 2025 Arctic expedition, including coordinated missions using two crewed deep-sea vehicles, the country’s Ministry of Natural Resources announced. 

The feat makes it the only country capable of conducting manned deep-diving operations in thick ice-covered Arctic waters, according to the Ministry. The missions explored seabed formations and marine ecosystems beneath thick summer ice, expanding Beijing’s scientific reach in the high north. 

“This is about deep-sea resource development and future generations. China is positioning itself to be the world leader in deep-sea and seabed resource management,” comments says Elizabeth Buchanan, a polar geopolitics expert at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

The deep-sea dives were carried out by two submersibles Fendouzhe and Jiaolong carried aboard the research ice-class vessels Tan Suo San Hao and Shen Hai Yi Hao. In total China dispatched five research ships, including an icebreaker, into the Arctic this past summer. Both submersibles are able to reach depths of at least 7,000 meters, with Fendouzhe reaching 10,909 meters at the Challenger Depth in 2020.

The dives occurred in the Beaufort Sea and in the central Arctic Ocean along the Gakkel Ridge. Gakkel is a mid-ocean ridge in an area of disputed extended continental shelf claims between Arctic coastal states, primarily Russia, Denmark/Greenland, and Norway.

The achievement underscores China’s growing presence in polar research, an area long dominated by Russia and Western nations. 

A segment on China’s state broadcaster CCTV highlighted the “dual-manned submersible underwater collaborative operation mode.” Researchers say the dual submersible operations demonstrated new advances in navigation, communications, and under-ice safety critical to sustained Arctic exploration.

While Beijing describes its Arctic activity as scientific, its expanding technical capabilities — including deep-diving and icebreaking operations — have drawn attention as the region is seeing increasing strategic competition and environmental impacts.

“I suspect Arctic rim nations particularly the U.S. would want to know exactly what devices were laid down by the submersibles at depths not easily reachable by current western capabilities. Again in the Arctic, this is a multi domain challenge for the West, and China has just upped the stakes in the deep-sea and seabed theatre,” she continued.

China has steadily increased its Arctic activity over the past decade, sending icebreakers, research vessels, and unmanned submersibles to the region. Beijing frames its efforts as part of a “peaceful scientific development” strategy, emphasizing climate research, marine biodiversity studies, and the mapping of undersea resources, while also seeking to secure a foothold along emerging Arctic shipping routes.

“The pace at which China is clearly shaping the battle field in the Arctic is impressive,” Buchanan concluded. 

Last month a Chinese containership became the first vessel to connect Asia to western Europe via the Arctic, completing the journey in a record 20 days. For next summer the owners of the Istanbul Bridge plan to expand their operation to 16 voyages.

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