VLADIVOSTOK, October 31. /TASS/. Rescue divers from Russia’s Pacific Fleet are gearing up to renew their diving record as their equipment enables them to submerge to a depth of up to 450 meters, a fleet representative told TASS on Tuesday.

"Training sessions will continue. Based on the estimates, the current equipment makes it possible to dive to a depth of up to 450 meters," the spokesman explained.

Divers from the Pacific Fleet’s rescue vessel Igor Belousov earlier carried out an experimental test dive in a diving bell to a depth of 317 meters for the first time at a deep water training range, reaching the seafloor.

The frogmen underwent pressure changes in a hyperbaric chamber for a week, after which they conducted dives with the help of diving gear. The Pacific Fleet’s frogmen set the previous 200m diving record in 2001 from aboard the rescue vessel Alagez.

The rescue vessel Igor Belousov joined the Pacific Fleet in 2016. It is equipped with a GVK-450 deep-water rescue system, making it possible to dive to a depth of up to 450 meters and lift sailors to the surface from a distressed submarine, as well as furnish decompression for as many as 60 submariners in hyperbaric chambers.