Jiaolong's new mothership to be launched the year end

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A new mothership for the Jiaolong submersible will be launched by the end of this year, China's National Deep Sea Center announced on Thursday.

The new mothership named Shenhai Yihao (DeepSea No. 1) will be tested after its launch, and is expected to be put into service in the first half of 2019, said Yu Hongjun, head of the center.

Shenhai Yihao, 90.2 meters long and 16.8 meters wide, has a cruising capacity of 14,000 nautical miles (25,928 kilometers) and will carry Jiaolong to launch a global oceanic scientific expedition in 2020, according to the center.

Jiaolong's current mothership Xiangyanghong 09 /VCG Photo

Jiaolong's current mothership, the 40-year-old Xiangyanghong 09, has carried the Jiaolong for hundreds of dives since 2009.

The manned Jiaolong submersible completed its deepest dive of 7,062 meters in the Mariana Trench in June 2012, setting a world record. The submersible has successfully conducted a total of 158 dives with a total voyage distance of 86,000 nautical miles (159,272 kilometers). It has been 100-percent safe and been key to deep-sea scientific research.

(Top image: The submersible Jiaolong diving in the southwest Indian Ocean /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency