China's manned submersible Jiaolong being lowered for a test in Jiangyin, east China's Jiangsu Province, in 2012. (Photo : www.english.sina.com)
The Chinese government has begun work on April 18, Saturday, on the mother vessel for its 11,000-meter manned submersible to be used in the country's deep-sea research missions, the Global Times reported.
According to the report, the ship, Zhang Jian, which was named after the founder of Shanghai Ocean University, measures 97 meters long and 17.8 meters wide, with a designed displacement of around 4,800 tons.
The ship has a 15,000-nautical mile endurance ability and was designed to carry 60 people. It is equipped with data processing, advanced laboratories and information centers and other devices, the report added.
Cui Weicheng, head of the Hadal Research Center at Shanghai Ocean University, told the media that Zhang Jian is built to serve the manned submersible Rainbow Fish.
The manned submersible is capable of diving to a depth of 11,000 meters, and will be used for general ocean expedition missions, rescue and salvage, deep-sea engineering, underwater archaeology and film shooting, the report said.
The report added that the vessel is expected to be delivered in June 2016 as Chinese scientists will launch unmanned diving in the deepest region of the Pacific's Mariana Trench in 2016.
The Chinese scientists have announced that they will launch manned diving in this area in 2019, using the Rainbow Fish submersible and other deep-sea devices.
In June 2012, China's manned submersible Jiaolong reached its deepest depth of 7,062 meters in the Mariana Trench. Jiaolong's feat can only be matched by the Trieste bathyscaphe in 1960 and the dive of the Deepsea Challenger in 2012.
Xu Qinan, a former professor of School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), designed the Jiaolong and many other Chinese submersibles and unmanned underwater vehicles. Xu is now an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
