Victor: French underwater robot that could be Titan’s last hope

Just a few hours to save five members Lost submersible from TitanicFrench underwater robot named Victor 6000 may be the last hope of rescuers.

The unmanned robotic submarine can dive deeper than other equipment currently at the search site and is able to reach the wreck of the Titanic lying on the bottom of the North Atlantic at a depth of about 3,800 meters (12,500 feet).

The robot can operate up to 72 hours and is controlled remotely by a team of 25 people on the surface. The Victor 6000 will arrive at the search site aboard a French ship on Wednesday evening and begin work shortly thereafter.

A tourist submarine operated by OceanGate Expeditions went missing Sunday on an estimated eight-hour journey to see the famous shipwreck.

Olivier Lefort, head of naval operations at Ifremer, the French state institute for ocean research that operates the Victor 6000, told Reuters that while the robot lacks the power to lift the 10-ton submersible to the surface, it can free it if he gets stuck. , In the deep sea.

“Victor can do visual scans with all the video equipment he has,” Lefort said. “It’s also equipped with manipulators that can be used to retrieve the submarine, such as cutting wires or things that are blocking it on the bottom.”

Ifremer has experience working at the Titanic’s resting place, having been part of the team that discovered the wreck in 1985.

Hopes were revived on Wednesday when the Canadian aircraft was equipped with underwater search technology. detected periodic knocking sounds in the area, which could be the inhabitants of the submersible, knocking on its wall to help rescuers find them. But as of Wednesday night, the vehicle is still missing.

On board the submersible are OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, and French explorer Paul-Henry Nargole.