China's manned submersible Jiaolong plans to conduct five dives in the Yap Trench starting June 4.
The dives will focus on research in deep-sea biotic communities and gene resources, according to scientists on the ship.
Jiaolong completed a series of dives in the Mariana Trench on June 1 and was transferred aboard its mother ship Xiangyanghong to the Yap Trench afterwards.
The Mariana and Yap trenches are located in the west Pacific Ocean. The Yap Trench has a depth of 8,527 meters, and the Mariana Trench, the deepest known point in Earth's oceans, has a depth of 11,034 meters.
This is the third and final stage of China's 38th oceanic scientific expedition that started on Feb. 6 and is scheduled to finish on June 18. The two previous stages had been successfully completed in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, respectively.
Named after a mythical dragon, Jiaolong reached its deepest point of 7,062 meters in the Mariana Trench in June 2012.
