Jiaolong, China's first manned deep-sea submersible, was berthed in the Mawei port alongside its carrier Xiangyanghong 09 in Fuzhou, Fujian Province and opened to the public on July 3.

As a highlight of the event, precious videos shot by the underwater camera were showed during the open day, while crews and technicians stayed on the scene to answer questions from media and visitors from 9 to 11 am and 2 to 4 pm.

For the protection of Jiaolong, visitors were divided into groups with a maximum of 50 people at a time allowed to go on board. Sixteen professional sailors were guiding and helping out with the security work as well.

Liu Feng, the director of the National Deep Sea Center, explained that Jiaolong is setting off for its 2014-2015 experimental voyage from Fuzhou – its the 35th ocean voyage in total. Despite the routine work, the submersible is also responsible for prospecting for rare minerals in the southwest Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean during the 160 day voyage.

According to Liu, 96 staff are taking part in the voyage, including 6 new recruited divers and a primary school teacher who has participated in scientific explorations several times at the south and north poles.

The open day was co-hosted by the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), the municipal government of Fuzhou and China Ocean Mineral Resources R & D Association.

By China Daily Fujian Bureau