Creative wording can make a record holder of anything. Japan’s JAMSTEC Shinkai 6500 is capable of going deeper than any “manned submersible for academic research” on Earth — though that may be down to other submersibles performing tasks outside of “academic research” as there are many that can dive deeper than the 6,500 meters the Shinkai 6500 is capable of.
Still, JAMSTEC’s effort has performed over 1,500 dives since it first launched in 1991. Its primary focus is to “study seafloor topography and geology and research deep-sea organisms in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean as well as the sea around Japan,” according to the JAMSTEC website.
As with many older submersibles, it has undergone extensive upgrades and refits over the years, with its biggest overhaul ever being completed in 2012. It has an interior diameter of two meters and, although slightly cramped, can accommodate up to three people. Its manipulators can lift up to 100 kg while underwater and its seven searchlights can provide around 10 meters of visibility while deep in the ocean. A regular dive on Shinkai lasts around eight hours, though it is capable of sustaining the lives of its crew members for 129 hours should something go wrong.
