2016 – RV "Shyian 3" –– In December 2016, the CAS 3,300-ton research vessel "Shiyan 3" deployed 33 broadband seismometers onto both the backarc northwest of the Challenger Deep, and onto the near southern Pacific Plate to the southeast, at depths of up to . This cruise was part of a $12 million Chinese-U.S. initiative, led by co-leader Jian Lin of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; a 5-year effort (2017-2021) to image in fine detail the rock layers in and around the Challenger Deep.