It is the lowest point in the world's oceans and one of the most forbidding spots on the planet, cloaked in cold, darkness and enduring mystery.

Inhabited by organisms that resemble some of the earliest life-forms, it is deeper than Mount Everest is tall, with access so risky and complex that it has had just two human visitors since its formation nine million years ago.

Now, in what could be the culmination of a so-called "race to inner space", Hollywood director James Cameron may be poised to dash the hopes of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Oceanic team of being the first 21st-century aquanaut to reach Challenger Deep, the nethermost location in any of the world's oceans.

Two other outfits have declared an intention to reach Challenger Deep, though not in the immediate future, and Mr Branson is the only party to have characterised the quest in competitive terms, stating when he unveiled the Virgin Oceanic bid last April that Mr Welsh aimed to pilot the first solo expedition there as part of a plan to dive to the deepest points in the world's five oceans.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9106185/Film-director-James-Cameron-leads-submarine-race-to-the-bottom-of-the-Mariana-Trench.html