China builds a machine capable of laying submarine cables in the Challenger Deep

The Haiwei GD11000 can deploy cables to a maximum depth of more than 11,000 metres

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Published: 2:00pm, 25 Nov 2024Updated: 4:16pm, 25 Nov 2024

China has built the world’s first machine capable of laying submarine cables in the Challenger Deep, the deepest known place on Earth.

Positioned at the southern end of the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean, the Challenger Deep has a maximum depth of nearly 11,000 metres (36,089 feet) below sea level. Yet this is within the range of China’s new all-depth optical cable winch system, the Haiwei GD11000.

Jointly developed by Dalian Maritime University, Liaoning province, and a number of domestic machinery and sci-tech companies, it can deploy cables to a maximum depth of more than 11,000 metres (36,089 feet), according to a university statement on November 16.

The Challenger Deep lies about 322km (200 miles) southwest of the island of Guam, home to a major US military base. Being able to use the underwater trench could potentially give the Chinese military a way to break through the “second island chain” – a strategic collection of Pacific bases forming a line of defence for mainland America.

Li Wenhua, a professor at the university’s marine engineering college and chief scientist on the project, said the Haiwei GD11000 could conduct marine scientific research “at the maximum depth of all the oceans in the world”.

The Mariana Trench is one of the most inaccessible places on the planet, but now the Chinese Haiwei GD11000 cable can reach this remote seabed. Photo: Dalian Maritime University

The previous record for the world’s deepest subsea cable was set by Italian cable manufacturer and installation services provider Prysmian. The company announced in July that it had completed an ultra-deep submarine cable installation at a depth of 2,150 metres (7,053 feet).