The Blue Whale 1 drilling platform developed by CIMC Raffles aids the development of the Lingshui 17-2 gas field in the South China Sea. [Photo/WeChat account: cimcoffshorer]

The Blue Whale 1 drilling platform developed by CIMC Raffles has aided in the development of China's first deep-water self-operated gas field – the Lingshui 17-2 gas field.

The Lingshui 17-2 gas field is located 150 kilometers away from Hainan Island at the intersection of the Eurasian, Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates.

It faces many challenges, such as a complicated geological structure, high temperature and pressure, ultra-deep water and adverse weather such as typhoons.

The Blue Whale 1 is currently the world's largest ultra-deep water semi-submersible drilling platform, with an operation depth of up to 3,658 meters and a drilling depth of up to 15,240 meters.

The CIMC Raffles, based in Yantai, Shandong province, is the nation's largest semisubmersible platform manufacturer.