China completes 537-day deep-sea material corrosion test

China State Shipbuilding Corporation announced on Saturday that its researchers recently completed a 537-day deep-sea material corrosion test at a depth of 10,000 meters.

The test, which set a new duration record, was conducted in an "extremely harsh environment" featuring high pressure, low temperature, high salinity and extremely low dissolved oxygen, the company said. Overcoming multiple challenges, the research team established an effective, ultra-low consumption power management system and a deep-sea corrosion protection technology system.

An aerial drone photo taken in April, 2025 shows the Deep Sea No. 1 energy station, in south China's island province of Hainan. (CNOOC/Handout via Xinhua

These enable accurate deployment, reliable residence and complete recovery of devices in the deep-sea environment, the shipbuilder noted, adding that data records were complete, while the samples were recovered intact.

Liao Zhiqian, a senior researcher of the company, said the type of data obtained from the long-running test was scarce globally.

The successful test is expected to offer support to tasks such as deep-sea exploration, mining, and oil and gas development.

(Xinhua)