On the 10th, the Zhuzhou Institute of CRRC announced that its subsidiary SMD (Soil Machine Dynamics) will begin construction of the world's largest-tonnage deep-sea trenching plow at its UK production base. This 178-ton "deep-sea behemoth" can lay up to 1,000 meters of oil and gas pipeline per hour on the seabed, which will promote the development of deep-sea oil and gas resources.

Subsea pipeline transportation is the fastest, most economical and most reliable way to transport offshore oil and gas resources. To prevent damage to pipelines from ocean environments such as waves and currents, subsea pipelines need to be protected by trenching and burial. The deepwater trenching plow is the "magic tool" used to dig trenches on the seabed and bury pipelines.

According to the design plan, this deepwater trenching plow is 23.5 meters long, 15.5 meters wide and 9.1 meters high, with a total weight of 178 tons and high operating efficiency. With the assistance of a surface support vessel, this "magic tool" can dive to a seabed depth of 1,000 meters to carry out pipe-laying operations. Depending on seabed soil conditions, water depth and trenching depth, laying a 100-kilometer oil pipeline on the seabed can take as little as 100 hours.

According to Mike Jones, deputy general manager of SMD, this is currently the subsea oil and gas pipeline laying equipment with the widest operating range and the highest working efficiency in the world. It is expected to be delivered in one year to Shenzhen Offshore Oil Engineering Underwater Technology Co., Ltd., under CNOOC Group.

To promote the development of the country's high-end marine equipment, CRRC is committed to building a marine equipment industry cluster integrating ship drive system integration, new ship materials and deep-sea equipment as units. In 2015, Times Electric, a subsidiary of CRRC Zhuzhou Institute, entered the deep-sea equipment industry by acquiring 100% equity of the UK company SMD, which holds a 57% share of the global subsea trenching equipment market. Industry insiders believe that the development of more high-end deep-sea pipe-laying equipment will help promote the development of China's deep-sea oil and gas resources.