Canada installs Chinese underwater monitoring devices next to US nuclear submarine base

Ocean Network Canada confirms addition of hi-tech sensors built by Chinese scientists to its marine observatories in Pacific Ocean

US state department has ‘nothing to say’ on matter

PUBLISHED : Monday, 22 October, 2018, 1:02am

While the eyes of the world have been on the strategic tussle between Beijing and Washington in the South China Sea, Chinese scientists, with the help of the Canadian authorities, have succeeded in positioning four monitoring devices in waters just 300km (186 miles) off the United States’ Pacific coast.

The instruments, which use hi-tech sensors to monitor the underwater environment, are connected to the Ocean Network Canada (ONC), a grid of marine observatories stretching from the northeast Pacific to the Arctic. While the network is operated by the University of Victoria in British Columbia, its four new additions are the property of the Sanya Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering (IDSSE), a unit of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which also developed and built them.

Underwater station could be a game changer, Chinese scientist says

The devices were placed on the Endeavour segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge by a vessel owned by the Canadian Coast Guard on June 27. Now fully operational, they can be used to provide real-time streaming of data to the Chinese institute’s control centres in Sanya, a city on the island province of Hainan, and elsewhere.

The ONC initially confirmed it had sited the Chinese devices within its network, but declined to provide further information. On Tuesday, however, it said the Chinese instruments were being used to monitor deep-sea chemicals with a range of detection “not exceeding five metres”, and the data was then sent to its data management system and was freely available.

“Ocean Network Canada has an open data policy – the data from the IDSSE instruments is available to anyone,” the organisation said.

The Chinese institute declined to comment, and while the Canadian foreign ministry acknowledged it had received a request for comment it did not immediately reply.

The US state department said it had “nothing to say” on the matter.

Surveillance under the sea: how China is listening in near Guam

What is known is that information collected by the devices will help Chinese marine scientists better understand the environment of a strategic waterway close to the United States, and get a close look at the structure and operation of one of the world’s largest and most advanced underwater observatories

While there is no evidence to suggest China’s military is involved with the project – there is also no suggestion the devices can be used to track submarines or other vessels – maritime environmental data is equally valuable to both civilian and non-civilian researchers. more…..

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2169474/canada-installs-chinese-underwater-monitoring-devices-next-us?fbclid=IwAR14OkPenc-5vYB1H9-__LbQTwpWLZsHYsnZ8jI22R3cHwSZdzlNuFkJePM

*underwater drones,lots of tricks

>>5072465

this story is a bit older but ties in….

Underwater station could be a game changer, Chinese scientist says

But Beijing is more focused on developing technology to find natural resources, according to deep-sea researcher

PUBLISHED : Friday, 29 September, 2017, 9:41am

Exploration in both the deep sea and in space started around the 1940s. But while we have already sent many astronauts and rockets into space, global development in deep-sea technology is still far behind,” Liu Xincheng, chief adviser to the deep-sea science and engineering institute at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said on Thursday in Hong Kong, where he was attending a conference on underwater science

Liu was part of the Chinese team that sent the Jiaolong manned submersible, which can reach the greatest depths of any in the world, down 7,002 metres in 2012.

He said that overall, China lagged behind developed countries in underwater science technology.

“The technology required to develop equipment needed for deep-sea exploration is even more advanced than that needed for outer space because of the pressure – an area as small as the size of a fingernail needs to be able to withstand the weight of 700 kilograms,” he said.

But if China can build a planned underwater station it could be a game changer, Liu said.

The proposed deep-sea platform is second on the list of 100 science and technology projects included in Beijing’s five-year economic plan.

The Jialong can take three crew members to a depth of around 7,000 metres for 12 hours at a time, but Liu said a permanent station would allow dozens of scientists to be based underwater and carry out deep-sea research for longer periods – for months or even years.

Liu said the technology was being developed and scientists were in regular contact with the government about the project, though he believed it would take a decade before an underwater station was in place.

But he added that China was still more focused on developing the technology to find natural resources than on scientific research as the country relied on foreign imports for most of its energy needs.

The Jialong holds the record for the furthest mission in the Mariana Trench – the deepest part of the world’s oceans – but Liu said it needed to go further if it was to make any major scientific discoveries.

“Exploring the sea for natural resources is a very narrow pursuit,” he said. “Scientific research is really directly related to our understanding of humankind.”

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2113288/underwater-station-could-be-game-changer-chinese-scientist-says

**losingfaithanon MOSTLY STRUCK BY THIS LINE:

"China’s deep-sea mission to mine the wealth beneath the ocean floor"