The world's first deep sea mining vessel is being built by a Chinese shipping firm, and is expected be put into use in 2018.

The vessel is designed to work at a depth of 2,500 meters. The vessel measures 227 meters in length and 75 meters in height, and will integrate advanced technologies, including deep sea mining robots, a deep sea lift system, a water-storage system and a cargo-loading system.

The vessel costs about 500 million U.S. dollars and will be delivered to a Canadian mining company to explore deep sea metal ore in the West Pacific.