Article Posted on : - Jul 22, 2011

China, which initiated the Jiaolong project in 2002, is the fifth country to send a manned submersible 3,500 metres below sea level after the United States, France, Russia and Japan.

BEIJING (PTI): A Chinese manned submersible Thursday successfully reached a depth of 4027 meters during a test dive conducted in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

The five-hour-long test started at 3 am on Thursday morning, with the submersible Jiaolong carrying three people to a depth of 4027 meters in an international area of the ocean.

The State Oceanic Administration work team in charge of the mission said that the dive was intended to test the submersible's functionality.

The submersible was found to be working normally and may be able to reach even greater depths, the team said.

The State Oceanic Administration said the submersible is scheduled to conduct another dive test Friday, when it will attempt to reach a depth of 5000 meters.