China's 24th expedition to Antarctica braved the risk of pirate attack on its mission to the pole

"I wish I could have a more relaxing time to appreciate the scenery as the sea is so quiet and beautiful, but I have to stand guard for pirates who are often seen around the equator," said Cao Shuowei on his travel log on November 20. Cao is a member of China's 24th Antarctic expedition that kicked off a week ago from Shanghai.

The red exploration ship Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, carrying 91 members of the 188-strong expedition team and 40 crew members, left Waigaoqiao Dock in Shanghai on November 12. The rest of the explorers will arrive in Antarctica by air.

After days at sea the ship entered an area near the equator threatened by pirates, so the crew and explorers were organized into shifts to guard for potential attack.

"I feel a heavy responsibility on me when I am holding the torch and walkie-talkie and patrolling on the two sides of the ship with my teammates. We have to especially watch out for the two sides of the ship because they are the lowest places where pirates can easily throw up their hooks before they attack," explained Cao.

Fortunately the ship was not attacked by pirates and passed peacefully over the equator heading for the Indian Ocean.

"The expedition will last for more than five months and we are expected to be back home on April 18 next year," said Shen Quan, the Captain of Xue Long.

"It's the largest scientific expedition team that China has sent to Antarctica and the expedition will lay a foundation for China's in-depth exploration of the Antarctic area," said Chen Lianzeng, Deputy Director of the State Oceanic Administration.

The expedition team will fix the site of China's third scientific research station at the South Pole, a planned observatory with seven telescopes and one acoustic radar at Dome A, the highest point on the continent at 4,093 meters above the sea level, added Chen.

On arrival at its destination the explorers will also conduct field research into bio-diversity, the ice shelf, climate change, Antarctic ice algae and krill, as well as monitoring the environment.

Preparations for the building of a third station have already been made. Once the site is located, construction will begin. The whole project is expected to be completed by 2010, according to Xu Xiaxing, a veteran of the expedition team who is on his eighth trip to the continent.

On the ship were 189 construction workers from the China Railway Construction Engineering Group who work on expanding China's two permanent Antarctic stations-Changcheng (Great Wall) and Zhongshan.

The workers will add a space observation station, garage, warehouse, garbage and sewage discharge system, boiler house, high-frequency radar room and oil tanker to the two stations.

To protect the environment, the construction group has built advanced sewage treatment systems and garbage burning facilities. Non-degradable and solid waste is shipped back home for treatment.

Xue Long also carries more than 2,100 tons of steel for the Antarctic station expansion and vehicles and equipment for exploration. It will stop by Chejudao in the Republic of Korea and Fremantle in Australia for logistic supplies before it arrives at the Zhongshan Station.

Polar research has become a hot topic in the international scientific community, and the peculiar geographic positions and unique natural environments of the poles provide ideal locations to study evolution and global climate change.

China launched its first expedition to Antarctica in 1984 and, since then, has conducted expeditions on an annual basis.

In 2006, the Chinese Government allocated a total of 570 million yuan ($77 million) for major Antarctic research projects, of which 32 million yuan ($4 million) was given to the IPY Chinese Project (IPY stands for the International Polar Year, an international event during which scientists carry out large-scale joint scientific activities), 150 million yuan ($20 million) to the development of the Shanghai-based Polar Research Institute, 180 million yuan ($24 million) to the renovation of the two existing Antarctic research stations and 200 million yuan ($27 million ) to an update of the polar expedition ship Xue Long.

According to the Polar Research Institute of China, 82 stations have been built on Antarctica and the continent receives more than 30 scientific expedition teams every year.