Submersible vessel to attempt record-setting dive

BEIJING - High underwater pressure will be the greatest danger that Jiaolong, China's manned deep-sea vessel, will contend with when it attempts to make the deepest dive on record this year, a senior official said.

"Jiaolong will make a 7,000-meter test dive this year after several improvements are made to the submersible vessel," Jin Jiancai, secretary-general of the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association, said over the weekend.

Before attempting the record-breaking dive, the vessel will make a roughly 3,000-meter test dive in the South China Sea in March or April, he said.