2023-06-21 22:54:53
France’s Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Seas said a robot that can dive up to 6,000 meters underwater is on its way to help search for a submarine that disappeared during its descent to the wreck site of the Titanic and could help free the submarine if it is stuck.
The institute said that the unmanned robot, called Vector 6000, can dive deeper than other equipment now in place in the North Atlantic Ocean. He added that the robot has arms that can be controlled remotely to cut cables or perform other maneuvers that help free a stranded submarine.
The robot, aboard a French research vessel, is expected to arrive late Wednesday, giving it a limited window of time to provide assistance before a Thursday morning deadline when the missing submarine’s air supply is expected to run out.
“Victor is not able to lift the submarine himself,” said Olivier Lefort, head of naval operations at the French state-run Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Seas that operates the robot.
But Levour told Archyde.com that the robot could help connect the submarine, which he calls the Titan and weighs ten tons, to a ship capable of lifting it to the surface.
Titan disappeared with five people on board shortly after it began its descent on Sunday to the wreckage of the British liner Titanic, which sank in 1912 after colliding with an iceberg. The wreck is located at a depth of about 3,810 metres.
“Victor is able to do visual exploration using all the video equipment it has,” Levour said. “It is also equipped with manipulator arms that can be used to extricate the submarine, such as cutting cables or things that would obstruct it at the bottom.”
The French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Seas was part of the team that located the wreck of the Titanic in 1985 with American underwater archaeologist Robert Ballard.
The robot operates a crew of 25. “We can work non-stop for up to 72 hours, and we don’t need to stop at night,” Levour said.
The US Coast Guard said Canadian aircraft equipped to find submarines detected noises in the area. And US media said that the sounds included the sound of knocking at intermittent intervals of 30 minutes.
“We don’t know what happened. The sounds that were heard give us hope that the submarine is at the bottom of the sea and that people are still alive, but other possibilities are possible… Even if the hope is slim, we will go all the way,” Levour said.
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