A new Chinese-made optical cable winch system is capable of reaching depths of 11 kilometres, which could see it operating in the deepest place on earth – a depression known as the Challenger Deep, in the Western Pacific Ocean.
The Haiwei GD11000 is the only machine of its kind in the world, mainland Chinese media has reported. It was developed by Dalian Maritime University, in Liaoning province, and a number of engineering and technology firms.
The system recently completed its first deep-sea survey in the South China Sea, where it demonstrated its full capabilities. Besides the world’s deepest cable deployments, it can achieve operational depths of more than 4 kilometres for its towing mechanism.
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The Haiwei GD11000 was built to support China’s maritime scientific research ventures and the exploration of deep-sea resources. However, the South China Daily Post reported that deploying the system in the Mariana Trench, which lies about 322 kilometres southwest of Guam (a major US military base), could also give the Chinese military a strategic advantage in that part of the ocean.
According to China’s Dalian Maritime University, traditional optical cable winch systems are limited by the weight of metal-armoured cables and cannot support full-depth operations – prompting the domestic development of an all-depth optical cable winch system.
The depth of 11 kilometres significantly exceeds the last record for laying a subsea cable: just under 2.2 kilometres. That was set by Italian cable manufacturer and installation services provider Prysmian earlier this year.
