Homemade submarine completes maiden dive

A laid-off worker in Wuhan successfully tested his homemade submarine on Tuesday, hoping it could attract attention from the local aquatic product breeding industry, Xinhua News Agency reported.

A reporter takes picture of the submarine made by Zhang Wuyi, May 6, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

Zhang Wuyi, from Wuhan city of Central China's Hubei province, used to be a worker at a local textile machine factory. He has been trying to make a submarine by himself since 2008 and has spent a total of 3 million yuan.

The submarine, which can accommodate only one person, completed its first test dive on Tuesday in a 15-by-8 meter pool in a depth of 4.5 meter at a local shipyard. It surfaced after a few minutes underwater, with its mechanical arm successfully picking up several screwdrivers from the bottom of the pool.

Zhang said he believes there is a big market potential for his submarine in the local aquatic product breeding industry .

"A lot of divers working in the aquatic product breeding industry have occupational disease and some even lost their lives while diving. My submarine could dramatically reduce the workload of divers and guarantee their safety," he added.

Zhang's submarine could go as deep as 100 meters. Several aquatic product breeders watched the maiden dive at the shipyard, and some of them showed interest in Zhang's product.

"Now the breeders mainly depend on divers to work underwater. It is dangerous and not so efficient. If Zhang's submarine could show a good maneuverability, it may be a good replacement for divers," breeder Wang Daomin said.