BEIJING – Chinese scientists are determined to probe the secrets of thedeepest parts of oceans as they are developing a manned submersible capableof reaching the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean,the deepest trench known to man.
To the best of scientific knowledge, the deepest portion of the trench is11,034 meters.
The submersible, which has yet to be named, is being designed at the ChinaShip Scientific Research Center in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, and will conductits first trial operation in the coming five years according to Wang Junli,deputy director of science and technology at China Shipbuilding IndustryCorp, the world’s largest shipbuilder and parent company of the center.
Wang told a news briefing held by CSIC after its annual work conference inBeijing the submersible will be able to operate in any ocean area and willbe piloted by several crew members.
Preliminary design for the deep-sea craft has been finished and engineershave begun to develop major devices on it, Wang noted, adding most of itsequipment will be domestically developed.
Currently, the nation operates two manned deep-sea submersibles — Jiaolongand Shenhai Yongshi, or “Deep-Sea Warrior”. Both were designed and built byCSIC.