The race against time The French institute Ifremer diverted its ship Atalante, equipped with an underwater robot for great depths, to the place in the North Atlantic where a submarine that was visiting the remains of the Titanic disappeared, the Secretary of State for the Sea announced on Tuesday. Herve Berville;
The Atalante, on a mission, should arrive in the area on Wednesday around 8:00 p.m. (French time), before operators sent from Toulon make the robot dive towards the wreckage, which lies at almost 4,000 meters. deep.
The US exploration submarine Titan has been missing since it plunged into the North Atlantic on Sunday to visit the wreckage of the Titanic. It has a crew of five, including French naval officer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and has a theoretical autonomy of 96 hours while diving.
A robot to reach a depth of 6000m
Qualified as the “flagship underwater intervention vehicle” by Ifremer, Victor 6000 is a remote-controlled robot from Atalante, using an umbilical cord that reaches eight kilometers. It is trained to work in deep waters up to 6,000 meters, with a battery of observation and management equipment and sampling of sediments or fauna.
“The device will continue to be in connection with the NATO coordination center and we are in contact with the US authorities,” said Hervé Berville, specifying that the robot operators had left Toulon and would arrive in Newfoundland, Canada, since Wednesday morning. , the French. time, before signing for Atalante.
The French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer) is under the double supervision of the Ministries of the Sea and of Research.
Source: BFM TV
