China’s unmanned submersible Qianlong No.2 has completed sea trials and delivered its first exploration mission in the southwest Indian Ocean.
The 3.5 meters long and 1.3 meters high autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) was designed and developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang Institute of Automation.
The sea trial campaign took approximately 3 months and covered about 218 square kilometers with maximum dives of over 3 200 meters. The Qianlong No.2 was built for missions of up to 4 500 meters water depth.
The AUV carried out a seabed mapping survey and took high-resolution images of areas rich with sulfide deposits. It should provide an important basis for future exploration and scientific research of China’s deep-sea resources.
Subsea World News Staff