China's New Deep-Sea Explorer Haiqin Completes Maiden Sea Trial
- tech360.tv
- Aug 26, 2025
- 2 min read
China's independently developed 6,000-metre-level deep-sea remotely operated vehicle (ROV) successfully completed its maiden trial in the South China Sea on Aug. 23. The trial fully validated the performance and functionality of the entire system.
The ROV, named Haiqin, completed multiple dives during the trial, reaching a maximum depth of 4,140 metres. It conducted various scientific experiments, testing a range of technical parameters, system stability, and reliability.
Before the sea trial, the ROV passed a 6,000-metre pressure test in a land-based environment. Cui Yunlu, mission leader and chief engineer of detection technology at the Centre of Ocean Expedition of Sun Yat-sen University, stated that the sea trial served as a verification process.
Cui added that conventional protocols dictate a 6,000-metre ROV is generally considered to meet full depth requirements once it passes a 4,000-metre sea trial.
Designed for deep-sea exploration, Haiqin was mounted on the Zhong Shan Da Xue research and training vessel. It can accurately locate, observe, and obtain samples of deep-sea scientific research targets.
The ROV can also carry out long-term deep-sea scientific research tasks, including marine surveys, biodiversity studies, new species discovery, and gene acquisition near the seabed.
The expedition, led by Sun Yat-sen University, set sail on Aug. 13 from Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, in south China. It is scheduled for a 25-day mission in the South China Sea.
The journey also includes deep-sea scientific applications involving the fully autonomous ROV Haidou-1. This vehicle will conduct multi-disciplinary seafloor sampling tasks.
Both Haiqin and Haidou-1 will continue to operate in the South China Sea, supporting a variety of scientific objectives. These objectives include unmanned aerial observation of oceanic weather patterns, marine geological process detection, deep-sea biological ecology studies, and 30-metre gravity coring sampling.
China's 6,000-metre-level deep-sea ROV, Haiqin, successfully completed its maiden trial in the South China Sea on Aug. 23.
The ROV completed multiple dives, reaching a maximum depth of 4,140 metres, and conducted various scientific experiments during the trial, which fully validated its performance and functionality.
Mission leader Cui Yunlu confirmed that Haiqin had previously passed a 6,000-metre land-based pressure test.
Source: CGTN
