Nation to boost rescue teams' abilities at sea

Advanced technologies and volunteers among measures to enhance response

China will adopt more advanced rescue technologies and intelligent rescue equipment, and will encourage the participation of volunteer groups as part of efforts to enhance its maritime emergency response capabilities, a senior official has said.

Zhang Jianxin, deputy director of the rescue department of the Ministry of Transport, said that the country has been intensifying efforts to develop a set of saturation diving technologies that would work at a depth of 500 meters underwater.

Saturation diving, commonly used in rescue operations at sea, enables rescuers to work at greater depths underwater for a longer time while reducing the risk of decompression sickness compared with conventional techniques.