Icebreaker Xuelong returns after Antarctic expedition

 　　SHANGHAI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China's icebreaker Xuelong, or "Snow Dragon", returned to its Shanghai base on Sunday after completing the country's 28th Antarctic expedition.

　　The vessel¹ received a brief welcoming ceremony at the base dock, organized by the State Oceanic Administration and the Shanghai municipal government.

　　It arrived at its designated anchorage area at the mouth of the Yangtze River on Thursday night.

　　Xuelong, an A-2 class icebreaker capable of breaking ice 1.2 meters thick, left the port of Tianjin on Nov. 3, 2011, and had covered an estimated 28,000 nautical² miles over the 163-day course.

　　During the expedition, Xuelong delivered supplies to the country's Antarctic stations, and scientists aboard conducted various scientific research tasks, including polar environmental survey and the installation of an Antarctica survey telescope.

　　Scientists also carried out large-scale oceanic researches, collecting about 8,500 samples and basic data from surveys on 46 Antarctic stations.

1 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

2 nautical   

adj.海上的，航海的，船员的

参考例句：

• A nautical mile is 1,852 meters.一海里等于1852米。
• It is 206 nautical miles from our present location.距离我们现在的位置有206海里。