China on Tuesday claimed that its manned deep-sea submersible 'Jiaolong' reached a depth of 6,965 meters below sea level during its second dive into the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.
The vessel sat twice on the sea bed during Tuesday's dive with the first one reaching a depth of 6,908 meters, where divers collected water samples and placed markers, Chinese state media reported.
The vessel reached 6,671 meters below sea level in the first dive last Friday surpassing the previous record of 5,188 meters made last July.
Jiaolong will attempt four more dives, aiming to move deeper and deeper to pursue the goal of reaching 7,000 meters below the sea level between mid-June and early July.
'Xiangyanghong 09,' the vessel's oceanographic mother ship, reached the designated dive zone in the Mariana Trench on June 11.
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