From The Hindu news is that The Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Oceanography will be overseeing the construction of a new 4,000 ton research vessel dedicated to deep-sea exploration. If my estimates from the web are right, then this new vessel will be considerably smaller than the two major research vessels Dayang Yihao at 5600 tons and the icebreaker Xuelong at 21025 tons currently in service. More details here as they come in.
