Deep-sea robot Victor 6000 rushed to site in Titanic race-against-time rescue
- 11 months ago
Rescue crews plumbing the depths of the Atlantic for the Titan submersible that was lost Sunday with five people aboard will get assistance from the Victor 6000 robot — a highly advanced, deep-sea craft and one of the few vessels on Earth capable of reaching the wreck.
The Victor 6000 is being rushed to the search site aboard French research vessel L’Atalante, but is not expected to arrive until Wednesday evening ET — around 12 hours before the oxygen supply on the missing submersible is expected to run out Thursday.
A 10-foot-long, remote-controlled robot with a bright yellow back, the Victor 6000 has been described as a “flagship device for underwater operations,” by the French network BMTV, and is capable of reaching a depth of 6,000 meters (20,000 feet).
With the Titanic lying 12,500 feet beneath the waves on the ocean floor, the craft should be more than capable of reaching it.
A rescue would see the Victor 6000 accompanied by Horizon Arctic, a powerful tug and supply ship which has a large cable which the deep sea craft can take down with it toward the wreck of the Titanic.
Victor 6000 is equipped with a robotic arm, which could be used for dislodging the lost Titan submersible if it is discovered trapped within the Titanic wreckage.
It can also attach the cable from the Horizon Arctic to the vessel to help pull it to safety.
“Victor is not capable of lifting the submarine up on its own,” Olivier Lefort from the French state-run oceanic research institute Ifremer told Reuters.
“Victor is able to do visual exploration with all the video equipment it has. It is also equipped with manipulating arms which could be used to extricate the sub, such as by sectioning cables or things that would be blocking it at the bottom,” he said.
The Victor 6000 is being rushed to the search site aboard French research vessel L’Atalante, but is not expected to arrive until Wednesday evening ET — around 12 hours before the oxygen supply on the missing submersible is expected to run out Thursday.
A 10-foot-long, remote-controlled robot with a bright yellow back, the Victor 6000 has been described as a “flagship device for underwater operations,” by the French network BMTV, and is capable of reaching a depth of 6,000 meters (20,000 feet).
With the Titanic lying 12,500 feet beneath the waves on the ocean floor, the craft should be more than capable of reaching it.
A rescue would see the Victor 6000 accompanied by Horizon Arctic, a powerful tug and supply ship which has a large cable which the deep sea craft can take down with it toward the wreck of the Titanic.
Victor 6000 is equipped with a robotic arm, which could be used for dislodging the lost Titan submersible if it is discovered trapped within the Titanic wreckage.
It can also attach the cable from the Horizon Arctic to the vessel to help pull it to safety.
“Victor is not capable of lifting the submarine up on its own,” Olivier Lefort from the French state-run oceanic research institute Ifremer told Reuters.
“Victor is able to do visual exploration with all the video equipment it has. It is also equipped with manipulating arms which could be used to extricate the sub, such as by sectioning cables or things that would be blocking it at the bottom,” he said.