Chinese dive
3,700 meters

A Chinese submersible designed to dive to a depth of 7,000 meters has achieved a 3,759 meters manned dive during a test. The Ministry of Science and Technology and the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) China announced that the feat makes China the fifth country, following the United States, France, Russia and Japan, to have the technologies for a manned dive to more than 3,500 meters below sea level.

The submersible, named, "Jiaolong " completed 17 dives with three crew on board in the South China Sea from May 31 to July 18. It also set a record by operating underwater for nine hours and three minutes. The average ocean depth is 3,682 meters below sea level. A submersible depends on another vessel or facility for support unlike a submarine.

Ye Cong

Crew Jiaolong

"We went through strict selection and training procedures before we managed to get on board the submersible. The submersible is very convenient to manoeuvre and we operated it quite well under the water. I think we've only achieved initial success in the test. The future application of the vessel will be more remarkable than this test."

Xu Qinan

Chief Designer Jiaolong

 "As the first manned vehicle designed to reach 7,000 meters below sea level in the world, the submersible can be used in 99.8 percent of the world's sea areas."

China base designed

to tap deep-sea energy

China is going ahead with a 72.8 million dollar research base on its east coast to search for energy sources and rare earth elements on the ocean floor. Engineers have started to design the base to be located in the coastal city of Qingdao. The facility will cover 26 hectares and serve as a support station for the deep-diving manned submersible vessel "Jiaolong". Scientists believe sea beds at a depth of 4,000-6,000 metres (13,200-19,800 feet) hold abundant deposits of rare metals and methane hydrate, a solidified form of natural gas bound in ice that could serve as a new energy source. "Jiaolong" is a mythical Chinese sea dragon. The International Energy Agency recently announced that China had surpassed the United States last year to become the world's top energy consumer -- a dubious distinction rejected by Beijing, which called the data "unreliable".