ACCIDENT
Robot sub deployed in search for Titan submersible
June 22, 2023 - A French robot that can dive 6,000 metres underwater could prove crucial in the search for a tourist submersible that vanished as it descended to the Titanic wreck.
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As the reported oxygen reserves onboard the Titan are expected to run out, a French oceanographic vessel L'Atalante arrived over the wreck site bearing what many believe is the only hope of being rescued – an underwater robot called Victor 6000.
Victor 6000, described by Capt Jamie Frederick of the USCG as “state of the art”, can dive deeper than other equipment now at the site in the North Atlantic and has arms that can be remotely controlled to cut cables or perform other manoeuvres to release a stuck vessel, the operator said.
Once found, Victor could hook the Titan to a ship using the U.S. Navy’s Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS), a lift system designed to recover objects weighing up to 27.2 tonnes from depths of 6,000 metres.