France deploys robot that to help search for missing Titanic sub

International rescue: France deploys robot that can dive to 6,000m to help search for missing Titanic tourist sub – as two remote-controlled British and American vessels arrive on scene

• L’Atlante is expected to arrive along with a crew on Wednesday morning to help with the search and rescue mission 
• A Bahamas-flagged ship which specializes in laying pipe and cables is also assisting
• READ MORE: DailyMail.com’s live coverage of missing submersible Titan

Deep dive vessels from across the world have been deployed to help search for the missing Titanic tourist submersible – as the Coast Guard says those on board only have 41 hours of oxygen left.

A team from France is expected to arrive in Canada on Wednesday to operate a remotely operated robot and a submarine deployed from the L’Atlante ship.

The boat can hold up to 30 technicians and scientists for up to 45 days, and both the devices on board are able to reach 6,000m (around 20,000ft) below sea level.

OceanGate’s submersible, the Titan, is currently missing with five people on board after it lost communication during a dive to the Titanic’s wreckage, which is around 12,500ft below the Atlantic.

A frantic search and rescue operation is underway to locate and recover the vessel before its 96-hour oxygen supply runs out.

A team from France is expected to arrive in Canada on Wednesday to operate a remotely operated robot and a submarine (pictured) which are deployed from the L’Atlante ship.

Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai, and Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince’s Trust charity, plus his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19.

OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush is also understood to be on board the vessel, which vanished on Sunday, along with French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet.

L’Atlante, which is expected to arrive in the search zone later on Wednesday, is less than 48 hours away from the site where the sub went missing, according to Hervé Berville, France’s junior minister in charge of maritime affairs.

It has a manned submersible called Nautile and remote-operated vehicle Victor 6000 on board.

Nautile can dive to a depth of 6,000m with a crew of three and is one of the very few manned deep-sea submarines. 

It has three wide-angle viewports and LED searchlights provide a direct view of the seabed. A dive on board the sub can last up to eight hours, of which six can be spent working at the sea floor.

The remote-operated Victor 600 is a deep-water ROV remotely operated by cable that can go to depths of 6,000m.

Victor 6000 is connected to the ship by an electromechanical cable which is 26,250ft long and supplies 20 kW of power

https://youtube.com/watch?v=thEho3Fgnkc%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US

L’Atlante  can hold up to 30 technicians and scientists for up to 45 days, and both the devices on board are able to reach 6,000m below sea level

TIMELINE OF MISSING SUBMERSIBLE TITAN

8am Sunday: Titan submerges around 900 miles east of Cape Cod 

9.45am: Polar Prince expedition ship loses contact with the submersible

5.40pm: Coast Guard first alerted to the missing sub 

9.13pm: Canadian Coast Guard alerted 

Thursday at 8am: 96 hours of oxygen runs out  

It is equipped with a high-performance navigation system which comprises a range of sensors connected to an inertial navigation system and has completed more than 700 dives.

The high-resolution optical imaging system ensures an optimal visual perception of the environment and can also generate optical 3D reconstructions of the area under observation.

Victor 6000 is connected to the ship by an electromechanical cable which is 8,000m long and supplies 20 kW of power.

Optical fibers in the cable send the data and image flows to the surface, allowing it to be piloted from the ship in real time – with there being no limit to the duration of a drive.

Along with the French vessels, a Bahamas-flagged ship – which is owned by a UK and US company – is also assisting in the search effort.    

The Deep Energy is owned by TechnipFMC, which specializes in laying pipe and cables, and arrived at the wreck site on Tuesday morning.

In a statement they said: ‘The effort is being led by the United States Coast Guard with support from the Canadian Coast Guard.’

Titan is currently missing with five people on board after it lost communication during a dive to the Titanic’s wreckage, which is around 12,500ft below the Atlantic

Two remotely operated vehicles are being used to help the search, but they can only dive to 3,000m

Along with the French ship, a Bahamas-flagged ship which specializes in laying pipe and cables is also assisting in the search effort

The ship is carrying two remotely operated vehicles that can dive to 3,000m to help with the search. 

They unmanned submersibles, operated from a control room on the mothership, and are tethered with 3,280ft-long cables. 

At a press conference at the US Coast Guard Station in Boston – which is coordinating the search and rescue effort – First District Response Coordinator Capt. Jamie Frederick conceded on Tuesday that a rescue was far from guaranteed.

Even if they locate the missing vessel in time, there is no certainty it can safely be brought to surface.

The Coast Guard has already searched 7,600 square miles of ocean – an area the size of Connecticut.

Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince’s Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are among the five people trapped in the sub

French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition

Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured), CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday

At 12,500ft underwater, there are few vessels able to dive deeply enough to find it.

The only ones able to search the ocean floor are remotely operated vehicles which are searching the ocean now.

If they find the sub, getting it to the surface is another feat entirely, requiring specialist equipment that is not yet on-site.

Other experts likened it to requiring a 2.5 mile-long cable to lasso to the far side of the moon.

There are multiple civilian ships assisting in the search, along with US Navy, Canadian Navy ships and aircraft.

Among pieces of equipment now on the way to the site is a decompression chamber for the five passengers, should they be brought to the surface.

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