Chinese submersible to conduct diving test in Pacific Ocean
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Xinhua, July 17, 2011
A ship carrying China's deep-diving submersible Jiaolong reached the northeastern Pacific Ocean 2 p.m. Saturday (Beijing time) where the submersible will make a 5,000-meter dive.
The submersible is the world's first manned submersible designed to reach depths of 7,000 meters below sea level, according to Xu Qinan, the submersible's chief designer.
The conditions over the next three to four days are not suitable for the diving test, and "we are waiting for an appropriate time," said Liu Feng, the test's commander in chief, during a video call with the State Oceanic Administration.
Currently, the sea is rough in the test area, Liu said.
He said the team would carefully prepare for the test over the next few days, including personnel training and equipment maintenance.
During the planned upcoming dive, the submersible will undergo several operational tests in which it will take photos, shoot video, survey seabeds and take samples from the ocean floor, said Jin Jiancai, deputy director of the submersible's diving test program team.
The ship, Haiyang-6 or Ocean-6, which will assist Jiaolong in the test, will conduct investigations and select the area for the submersible's 7,000-meter dive, said Yang Shengxiong, chief scientist of Haiyang-6.
The submersible, scheduled to spend 47 days at sea, left east China's Jiangsu Province for northeastern Pacific Ocean on July 1.
The tests will be conducted in the Pacific Ocean in accordance with a contract signed between the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research & Development Association and the International Seabed Authority (ISA).
They will also be carried out in line with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as well as the ISA's rules and regulations, Jin said.
A submersible differs from a submarine, as it typically depends on another vessel or facility for support.
Jiaolong completed 17 dives in the South China Sea between May 31 and July 18 last year, reaching 3,759 meters during its deepest dive.
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