Jiangyin is a county level city in our very own Jiangsu province, located approximately 150 kilometres downstream of Nanjing. The city’s long standing importance as a maritime transportation hub is set for a shot in the arm when the Jiangyin built Jiaolong touches down on the deepest ocean floor in the world, the Marianas Trench, in the process setting recorders for the deepest manned ocean dives.
Setting off from Sunan Port, Jiangyin on 3rd June on the back of research vessel Haiyang-6, the Jiaolong has not only made it to the dive zone, but on Friday 15th June made its first dive to a depth of 6,671 metres, a new world record. A second of six planned dives was cancelled today due to issues with the Jailong’s hydraulic systems, while the next is scheduled for tomorrow 19th June. The goal is simple; go below 7,000 metres and “set foot” on the bottom of the Marianas Trench. The mission has already also been delayed by tropical storm Guchao.
Named after a mythical sea dragon, the Jialong is manned by three oceanauts;Ye Cong, Fu Wentao and Tang Jialing, assisted by a surface support crew of over 100 on board the Haiyang-6. Last year, China became only the fifth country to send a manned submersible to a depth of over 3,500 metres. Success in going to double that depth in only two years shall underscore China’s development of deep-sea technology and its desire to challenge hitherto limits in human deep-sea activity.
Key pilot, Ye Cong, 32, said “The scientific expedition of the Jiaolong is aimed at benefiting mankind. The deep sea where few people visit has amazing resources waiting to be discovered, such as hydrothermal sulfide and manganese nodules.”
China initiated the Jiaolong project in 2002. The vessel is expected to return to China in mid-July, no doubt to a hero’s welcome, both locally and in county level Jiangyin.
