China starts first saturation diving experiment

China on Thursday started its first saturation diving experiment at sea, aiming to reach 300 meters under water from the sea surface near Shenzhen, according to the Shanghai Salvage Company under the Ministry of Transport.

At 1 p.m. Beijing time, six divers of the company began to pressurize a compression chamber in preparation for the dive, marking the beginning of the experiment.

Divers are scheduled to begin diving toward 300 meters under the sea on Jan. 12 and stay under water for about 17 days, according to Guo Jie, head of the experiment project.

Saturation diving was developed to allow divers to stay under water for a longer time and at a deeper sea level than with conventional techniques.

It is commonly used in deep sea exploration, in rescue operations at sea and in engineering construction at the bottom of the sea.

China had previously only conducted such experiments in laboratories.