China's Ocean Power Push
China is rapidly expanding deep-sea mining and oceanographic capabilities — now operating the world’s largest oceanographic fleet — activities analysts say have dual scientific and strategic value for submarine and anti-submarine operations. (edition.cnn.com) At the same time Beijing has expanded undersea mapping across the Pacific, Indian and Arctic Oceans and deployed its 10th Type 055 destroyer to the Eastern Theater, moves that analysts warn are reshaping naval balance in the East China Sea and Taiwan Strait. ( )
A Feb. 2026 U.S. Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute note catalogs more than 40 large-displacement blue-water research vessels in Chinese state ownership and lists individual ships such as Tansuo 1 operating off northern Chile’s Atacama Trench. (andrewerickson.com) A joint CNN–Mongabay tracking project identified eight state-linked vessels tied to China’s deep-sea mining program and found those ships spent roughly 6% of their 2021–2025 open-water time inside Chinese-designated exploration blocks, while conducting extended missions in strategic regions. (cnn.com) The International Seabed Authority record shows China Minmetals submitted an Environmental Impact Statement for collector-vehicle trials on Oct. 24, 2024, and states and press agencies reported ISA clearance for Minmetals’ trial program in mid‑2025 to allow testing in Block A‑5 of the Clarion‑Clipperton Zone at depths of about 5,000–5,500 meters. (isa.org.jm) Oceanographic platforms such as Dong Fang Hong 3 and Xiang Yang Hong 01 logged systematic surveys near Guam, the Mariana Islands and waters around Taiwan during 2024–2025, and analysts say the broader effort now deploys dozens of ships alongside seabed sensors and moorings numbering in the hundreds. (marinetechnologynews.com) China commissioned Dongguan (Hull 109) and Anqing (Hull 110) into service in early March 2026 and assigned them to the Eastern Theater Command, bringing the operational Type 055 force to ten hulls; the class displaces roughly 12,000–13,000 tonnes and carries about 112 universal VLS cells apiece. (armyrecognition.com) By securing ISA approval and fielding prototype collector tests, China Minmetals positions state industry to move from R&D into seabed trials for polymetallic nodules—resources containing manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper—which analysts say would strengthen China’s leverage in critical‑minerals supply chains if trials scale to commercial extraction. (rareearthexchanges.com)
