On the afternoon of March 28, 2026, the Inaugural Ceremony of the Deep Blue Voyager 2026 Western Pacific Expedition, together with the World Wide Fund for Nature’s “Earth Hour” 20^th Anniversary Greater Bay Area Main Event, was held at the Shenzhen Shekou Cruise Homeport. Representatives from government departments, research institutions, universities and colleges, enterprises, public welfare organizations, and cultural communication fields gathered together to witness the official launch of the Deep Blue Voyager 2035 (DBV) 2026 Western Pacific Expedition, marking the start of an initiative connecting science, industry, and the public.

On site, Huaping CHEN, Director of the Shenzhen Ocean Development Bureau, presented the expedition to the scientific team. Jian LIN, Director of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) Advanced Institute for Ocean Research (AIOR), Head of the Shenzhen Ocean University Preparatory Office, and Chief Scientist of the DBV Global Expedition; Chief Scientist of the first Pacific segment, Yong ZHOU; and Chief Team Leader of the first Pacific segment Xinyuan WEI jointly received the flag, marking the official launch of the maiden voyage of the initiative.  

During the ceremony, remarks were delivered  by Yaodong CHAN, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shenzhen Municipal Government; Zhanhai ZHANG, President of China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association (COMRA) and General Convener of the DBV; Dake CHEN, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Researcher at the Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Honorary Director of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), and Director of the Scientific Advisory Committee of DBV; Bo LEI, Director of the South China Sea Bureau of the Ministry of Natural Resources, and member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of DBV; Xiangyang LI, Deputy Director of the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association (COMRA); Hua SHI, Project Director of the South China Region of One Planet Foundation (Shenzhen); Yunjun LU, Chairman of Shanghai Chunhe Ocean Technology Group Co., Ltd. and Deep Blue Exploration (Shenzhen) Marine Technology Co., Ltd.; Hongyuan LI, Deputy General Manager of China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Holdings Co., Ltd., expressing support and expectations for the launch of the DBV. A parallel roundtable forum was also held at the event. Academician Minhan DAI, Vice Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of DBV, and Academician Si ZHANG participated in the event.

At the event, the overall plan for the DBV decade-long global ocean expedition, as well as the 2026 inaugural voyage, was officially released. Deep Blue Voyager 2035 aims to connect the scientific, industrial, and public sectors, gather strength from all walks of society, and embark on a decade-long journey toward a sustainable ocean future. The initiative centers on three core missions—promoting breakthroughs in deep-sea science, fostering innovation in the ocean industry, and enhancing public ocean awareness. Leading scientists will work hand in hand with government agencies, leading enterprises, research platforms, and the public to explore unknown waters, driving technological breakthroughs and industrial upgrades.

The program spans ten years and was approved in 2025 as a contributing action to the United Nations “Decade of Ocean Science.” SUSTech’s Advanced Institute for Ocean Research (AIOR) is a co-initiating institution and hosts the secretariat of the initiative. It is also responsible for the establishment and management of the expedition sample repository. Professor Jian Lin serves as Chief Scientist of the programme, leading its scientific planning and implementation.

For the upcoming 2026 Western Pacific Ocean Expedition, Dr. Xinyuan WEI from SUSTech will serve as the segment leader. Together with a team of scientists from 13 research institutes and universities across the country, he will head to the waters of the Western Pacific to carry out a comprehensive scientific expedition lasting more than thirty days, contributing to China’s efforts to explore cutting-edge international scientific issues and address the sustainable development of the ocean, which concerns all of humanity.