Fendouzhe

The Chinese submersible named ‘Fendouzhe’ recently made 13 dives into the Mariana Trench in the Western Pacific Ocean, reaching one of the deepest spots on the planet.

Febdouzhe has a robotic arm for collecting samples and a sonar eye for identifying objects. The development of Fendouzhe began in the year 2016. The Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IACAS) is responsible for the technology and equipment of Fendouzhe.

Mariana Trench

• Mariana Trench, which is about 200 km east of the Mariana Islands and is located in the western Pacific Ocean is said to be the deepest oceanic trench on Earth.
• It is around 2,550 km in length and has a width of 69 km.

Key Points of the Expedition

• The Chinese submarine, Fendouzhe reached a depth of 35,791 feet in the ocean. Out of the 13 dives, eight of them exceeded 10000 m or 32808 feet.
• Fendouze was on a month-long expedition in Mariana Trench that began on October 10.
• The researchers collected biological samples, rocks, and sediment from the bottom of the trench.
• Between dives, the vessel, pilots were aboard on the research ship Tansuo-1.
• The Tansuo-1 also returned with Fendouzhe to port in Hainan province after the expedition.
• The first Chinese deep-sea submersible, Jiaolong, reached 12,332 feet in the year 2010, which placed China in a club few countries including France, the United States, Japan and Russia, with vessels capable of crewed 3,500 m dives.

World’s Deepest Dive Record

The world’s deepest dive record is held by an American investor Victor Vescovo who dived to 35873 feet in his vessel named ‘Limiting Factor’.

Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

It was established in the year 1964 for the defense needs of China for acoustic research. It focuses on studying basic and applied acoustics in different fields like underwater acoustics, environmental acoustics, noise control technologies, ultrasonics, etc.