World's first commercial deep-sea submarine fleet planned by Chinese scientist

A top scientist who pioneered China's record-breaking manned deep-sea submersible, the Jiaolong, hopes once again to boldly go where no man has gone before. But this time, Professor Cui Weicheng goes not in search of national glory, but of commercial enterprise.

Cui, the first deputy chief designer of the Jiaolong, became a national hero in 2012 when the three-person vessel set a record by descending almost 7km into the Pacific Ocean. The descent gained China entry to an exclusive group of five nations capable of sending manned vessels below 3,500 metres and prompted state media to compare the venture to the nation's more glamorous space mission.

So it came as a surprise to many when Cui left the Jiaolong project to join a little-known startup registered in Hong Kong with an ambitious goal - to build the world's first commercial deep-sea submersible fleet.

But Cui is candid about his motivations for giving up his well-funded government job for the high-risk venture.

"Profit," says Cui, with the enthusiasm one might expect had the Jiaolong just discovered a previously unknown deep sea creature.

He is confident the private company can put together the talent and resources to build a fleet capable of reaching anywhere in the ocean. And he's equally sure there will be sufficient commercial demand.