China's deep-sea dive team takes shelter from typhoon

ABOARD XIANGYANGHONG -- The oceanographic ship carrying Jiaolong, China's manned deep-sea submersible, anchored Sunday night to avoid confrontation with typhoon Mawar ahead of a 7,000-meter attempt.

The ship, the Xiangyanghong 09, left the eastern port city of Jiangyin earlier on Sunday and travelled about 155 nautical miles to an anchorage at the mouth of the Yangtze River near Shanghai, according to the onboard headquarter of the operation.

Tropical storm Mawar battered northern Philippines Saturday and was moving north. Meteorological experts said that Xiangyanghong would encounter Mawar on Tuesday if it stick to the original plan.

The ship would continue its voyage at a proper time and the Mawar would not affect the planned dive of Jiaolong, said the headquarter.

The Haiyang-6, a Chinese research vessel dispatched to assist the dive, left Guangzhou Saturday and had also anchored to take shelter, it added.

The submersible, named after a mythical sea dragon, will dive 7,000 meters below the surface of the Pacific Ocean between mid-June and early July at the Mariana Trench, according to a plan for the expedition.