The first China-made sea umbilical cable produced by Orient Cable, a professional cable provider based in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, was successfully loaded at a wharf in the city June 20.

A item of core equipment for subsea exploration, the 23-kilometer cable will be deployed for oil and gas field projects in the South China Sea and can supply required consumables such as air and electrical power to underwater oil and gas operations 500 meters deep.

"Underwater exploration has become a development strategy in China," said Zhou Zewei, chief engineer for Orient Cable, adding that 100 million yuan ($15 million) has been invested in the research and development of the cable.

"Home-manufactured umbilical cable lowers the cost by 30 to 40 percent compared with similar ones that have been widely applied in oil and gas development in sea areas in the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea and West Africa," said an official from China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

The cable marks a breakthrough in China's development of key equipment for underwater oil and gas exploration.

The first home-made umbilical sea cable produced by Orient Cable, a professional cable provider based in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, is successfully loaded at a wharf June 20. [Photo/Xinhua]