China's first all-depth optical cable winch system completes maiden deep-sea survey in South China Sea

The "Haiwei GD11000," China's first and the world's only all-depth optical cable winch system, jointly developed by Dalian Maritime University and other technology companies, recently completed its first deep-sea survey in the South China Sea, demonstrating its full capabilities for maximum-depth ocean research, Science and Technology Daily reported on Tuesday.

During the voyage aboard the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey Bureau's Haiyang Dizhi 2 (Ocean Geology 2) ship, the towing operation achieved a cable deployment length of over 11,000 meters and an operational depth exceeding 4,000 meters. This fully validated the stability and operational capability of China's domestically developed deep-sea winches system, according to the report.

The "Haiwei GD11000" can conduct scientific research operations at the maximum depths of all oceans worldwide. It is China's first and the world's only all-depth optical cable winch system, according to a statement published by Dalian Maritime University.

The optical cable winch system is designed for deploying, recovering, and towing large systems such as deep-sea towing systems and cable-controlled underwater robots. It serves as a fundamental piece of equipment for research vessels and is indispensable for deep-sea resource exploration and development.

As marine scientific research ventures into even deeper waters, harsher environments, and more precise scientific investigations, higher demands are being placed on winch systems. Traditional optical cable winch systems, limited by the heavy weight of metal-armored cables, cannot support full-depth operations. 

This prompted the domestic and independent development of an all-depth optical cable winch system, said the university.

The "Haiwei GD11000" will be deployed for routine deep-sea and polar survey operations aboard research vessels in the future, and will provide technological support for China's marine scientific research endeavors and deep-sea resource exploration and utilization, it said.