Film director James Cameron in ENB to test deep sea vehicle

RENOWNED film director James Cameron is in PNG waters test diving his new undersea vehicle before heading to explore the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean – the Mariana Trench.
The part of the trench known as Challenger Deep, north of PNG, is the deepest known point of the world’s oceans, reaching down to about 10.91km.
Cameron, creator of Hollywood blockbusters such as the Titanic, Terminator and Avatar, will be testing his dive vehicle in very deep waters off Jacquinot Bay in Pomio, East New Britain.
The director and his entourage on board Mermaid Sapphire, reportedly arrived in East New Britain over the weekend and headed for Palmalmal in Pomio yesterday.
Cameron and his team will make five test dives in over a 10-day period before departing  for Guam.
Cameron Carseldine, general manager of Melanesian Tourist Services (MTS), the agents for mv Mermaid Sapphire, told The National yesterday the vessel was on a charter headed for Guam where Cameron would begin his journey to the bottom of the sea.
The bottom of Challenger Deep has only been plumbed three times.
The first was a manned descent by Trieste in 1960.
This was followed by the unmanned remotely operated vehicles Kaik in 1996 and Nereus in 2009.
Cameron, who funded the development of the new undersea vehicle, is expected to make a movie of this exploration and use the exploration as research for his sequel to Avatar which is set in the oceans of fictional planet, Pandora.
 According to reports, Ca­meron commissioned a team of Australian engineers to design and build a submersible capable of taking him to the floor of the Challenger Deep, and capable of filming in 3D at these depths.
Rob McCallum from the visiting team was expected to meet with ENB provincial authorities to answer any questions they may have.
MTS has also engaged their officers in Rabaul and Madang to assist with ground activities.

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AN artist’s impression of a possible design for film director James Cameron’s deep sea vehicle – DailyMail graphic