On July 18, China's unmanned submersible, ARV Haidou, developed by the Shenyang Institute of Automation and the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering of CAS, during a scientific expedition at the Mariana Trench in the West Pacific dived for the first time to a depth of greater than 10,000 meters, reaching 10,767 meters, a new record for the country.

This expedition has filled the gap in China's deep-sea research for the in-situ data and samples covering a depth of greater than 10,000 meters, and makes China the third country, after the United States and Japan, capable of developing unmanned submersibles that can reach the greatest ocean depths.

Unmanned submersible ARV Haidou being submerged (Image by CAS)

Unmanned submersible ARV Haidou begins its descent. (Image by CAS)