In April and May 2013, the ‘Shiptime Sharing Project of NSFC’ conducted a geophysical cruise across the Xisha Islands using the R/V ‘Shiyan 2’. During the cruise, a ~500 km long wide-angle seismic profile (OBS2013-1) striking NW-SE was acquired starting from west of the Xisha Trough and reaching the south of the Zhongsha Bank and coinciding with a multi-channel reflection seismic profile of four streamers. Thirty ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) spaced at ~15 km were deployed, among which 25 OBSs were successfully recovered and provided useful data. Four air guns with a total volume of ~98 L were deployed ~30 m behind the vessel and shot every 120 s, leading to ~300 m shot spacing at a ship speed of ~5.0 Kn.