On 24 June, the Chinese manned deep-sea submersible Jiaolong accomplished its goal to dive 7,000 meters below the sea, thestatesman.net reported.
The submersible succeeded in diving 7,015 meters below sea level during its fourth dive into the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.
Now China has the ability to conduct surveys in 99.8 percent of the world’s seabed areas.
China has already received approval to explore a 10,000 sq km polymetallic sulphide ore deposit in an international seabed region of the southwest Indian Ocean. The 15 year approval was secured by China from the International Seabed Authority (ISA).
Commander of the project Liu Feng said: “It has been proved during the four previous dives that the submersible is stable in function and the capabilities of the team performing the test dives are rising gradually”.
Liu Xincheng, the Chief of the ruling Communist Party China , who was in-charge of the project , stated: “The mission of the sea dive test is to find problems and solve them before the submersible is to put into practical use”.
Jiaolong was transported to Mariana Trench on 11 June where it attempted a series of dives.
[mappress] Subsea World News Staff , July 10, 2012