China's underwater glider completes first dive in Indian Ocean

China's independently-developed underwater glider has successfully fulfilled a scientific observation in the Indian Ocean, marking the first time the country's indigenous underwater glider is used in this ocean, according to the developer.

China's independently-developed underwater glider Haiyi conducts a scientific observation in the Indian Ocean on January 2, 2018. [Photo: VCG]

Spearheaded by the Third Institute of Oceanography of the State Oceanic Administration, the mission, between Dec. 11, 2017 and Jan. 2, 2018, was aimed at observing interaction between global climate change and marine conditions, said Yu Jiancheng, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Shenyang Institute of Automation, the developer of the glider.

Codenamed Haiyi, which means sea wings in Chinese, the underwater glider is used to monitor the deep-sea environment in vast areas, according to Yu.

After diving into the Indian Ocean on Dec. 11, 2017, Haiyi, a new concept underwater robot, obtained 190 items of data on its 705-kilometer journey, said Yu.

Haiyi reached a depth of 6,329 meters during a mission in the Mariana Trench in March 2017, breaking the previous record of 6,000 meters held by a U.S. vessel.