Nautile

The Nautile is a manned deep-sea submarine of the French Research Institute for Oceanography Ifremer. It can be used up to a depth of 6000 m, allowing him to explore 97 % of the seabed. Since its commissioning in 1984, it has conducted about 1500 dives.

Specifications

The Nautile is a miniature submarine in bathyscaphe construction for three -man crew. The 19.5 -ton, mostly made ​​of titanium submarine is 8 m long, 2.7 m wide and 3.8 m high, the inner diameter is 2.1 m. Three portholes with a diameter of 12 cm allow good visibility. The submarine has lead-acid batteries with a capacity of 37 kWh ( for 230 V) and 6.5 kWh (28 V). It is driven by a main rotor, the maximum speed is 1.7 knots. The range under water is 7.5 kilometers, the maximum life-time of five hours. Three auxiliary rotors allow accurate positioning under water.

A sonar system allows exploring the environment. Positioning both in the submarine as well as above the water surface allows an accurate position determination. A number of sensors continuously record dive depth, water temperature, speed, direction and time. The Nautile is equipped with two cameras, two video cameras and seven headlights. Two robot arms, with a suction cup a shovel and a gripping device, allow manipulation under water. On request, the submarine can be equipped in place of the collection basket with the special robots ROBIN, a coupled, remote-controlled video camera or other special equipment. The Nautile can stay under water for eight hours there is an emergency system that ensures the survival of the crew for another 120 hours.

Use

The Nautile is by the French research vessel Nadir, L' Atalante and Pourquoi Pas? used from. It is used for scientific explorations of oil companies, the military, to wreck search for archaeological research missions, as well as television crews; For example, it was for the salvage of the plane wrecks of Itavia Flight 870 in 1987 and used in 2009 to search for wreckage and flight recorders from Air France flight 447. Even the wreck of the RMS Titanic was explored with their help.