With a long whistle, the Snow Dragon rushed to the South Pole. On the morning of November 1st, the Snow Dragon and Snow Dragon 2 polar exploration ships and cargo ships set sail, and the 40th Chinese Antarctic exploration organized by the China Polar Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources set off from Shanghai. Our college and Shanghai Polar Center jointly selected Li Erxi, a navigation major, and Wu Jun, a ship electrical major, to serve on Xuelong 2. Cui Rongjian, a marine engineering major, went to Xuelong for on-the-job practice and participated in the Antarctic scientific expedition. Miao Keyin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, and Hu Jie, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Department, went to Shanghai to see off these teachers of our college and attend the departure ceremony.

The 40th Antarctic Expedition departed from China on November 1, 2023 and planned to return in April 2024, lasting over 5 months. The investigation mission is supported by three ships, with the Snow Dragon and Snow Dragon 2 ships from Shanghai mainly performing scientific investigations, personnel transportation, and logistics supply tasks; The Tianhui cargo ship from Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, is mainly responsible for transporting materials for the construction of the new scientific research station. It is understood that this Antarctic expedition will focus on three tasks which are to build a new scientific research station, to investigate the impact and feedback of climate change on the Antarctic ecosystem and to actively carry out international cooperation.