China's deep-sea manned submersible completes 500th dive

On Oct 25, China's deep-sea manned submersible Shenhai Yongshi, or "Deep Sea Warrior", completed its 500th dive and returned to the coastal city of Sanya in South China's Hainan province carried by the scientific research vessel Tansuo 2, or Exploration 2.

The mission was mainly designed to test the underwater performance of equipment developed for the Chinese Academy of Sciences' pilot deep-sea scientific research program and core technologies of other national key research and development projects.

During the 11-day trial, the "Deep Sea Warrior" manned submersible completed its 500th dive to a depth of 1,450 meters and returned to the Exploration2 vessel after nine hours underwater.

Since 2017, the average underwater time of the "Deep Sea Warrior" for all 500 dives was 8 hours and 17 minutes, with the longest time being 12 hours and 53 minutes. The average depth of the submersible was 1,957 meters, and the maximum depth was 4,546 meters.