| Press Releases - August 2005
August 24, 2005- Oceaneering Announces Ocean Intervention Term Contract
August 23, 2005- Ever Expanding AC-CESS - 3 More Distributors Sign For the AC-ROV
August 16, 2005- A Day in the Life of a Marine Scientist
August 15, 2005- Captain of Rescue Craft Charged with Negligence
August 15, 2005- Scorpio 45: The UK's Deep-Sea Rescuer
August 12, 2005- U.S. Navy DSU Team Returns from Rescue Mission
August 11, 2005- Team Who Rescued Sub Facing Axe
August 10, 2005- Canyon Offshore Buys its fifth Triton XLS ROV System for Gulf of Mexico Operations
August 10, 2005- Russia to Buy Scorpio Deep Divers (Full story from Russian newspaper)
August 8, 2005- They Make It to the Shore- Russian Submariners Have Been Saved By the British Fleet (Full story from Russian newspaper)
August 8, 2005- Russian Mini-sub Crew Rescued
August 8, 2005- Safe After 76 Hours Trapped on Seabed
August 7, 2005- UK Sub Saves Sailors From Death
August 7, 2005- Russian Mini-Sub Crew Reports Readiness To Surface, as British Scorpio Cuts the Cables
August 6, 2005- Vehicle Begins Cutting Cable Tangling Sub
August 5, 2005- Navy Mounts Rescue Effort For Trapped Russian Mini-Sub
August 5, 2005- Oxygen Dwindling For Seven in Russian Sub
August 5, 2005- Rescuers To Tow Trapped Sub
August 5, 2005- San Diego-Based Team To Help Stranded Russian Sub
August 5, 2005- Sea Robots Play Critical Role in Navy
August 5, 2005- Sub Sea Research Team Discovers Valuable 18th Century Shipwreck
August 5, 2005- Sonar Scans of Cyprus/Atlantis Expedition
August 4, 2005- UK's National Marine Aquarium Will Be Testing Seaeye Falcon ROV
August 3, 2005- Interview with Deep Sea Systems Founder Chris Nicholson on ROVeXchange
August 2, 2005- Major ROV Contracts Placed With Statoil
August 1, 2005- Ocean Researchers Use ROV to Document Regions Threatened by Climate Change
Past press releases are also available:
Current Press Releases
Date: August 24, 2005
Organization: Oceaneering International, Inc.
Oceaneering Announces Ocean Intervention Term Contract
Houston, TX (PRNewswire-FirstCall) - Oceaneering International, Inc. (NYSE: OII) announced it has secured a one-year term contract valued at approximately $18 million for use of the MSV Ocean Intervention and other related services, commencing mid-September 2005. The contract contains options for two one-year extensions, with dayrate escalation provisions. Our Customer has contracted the vessel to conduct deepwater inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR) of deepwater subsea facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. Representative examples of this work include changing out pods and chokes, installing flowline jumpers and control umbilical flying leads, installing VIV suppression strakes and fairings, and supporting diving operations on deepwater floating facilities.
The Ocean Intervention is a US flagged, purpose-built, 75 meter DP-2 MSV with a moonpool cursor deployed 300 HP Maxximum work class ROV system, an 80 ton marine crane, 60 ton A-Frame, 50 ton subsea winch, working moonpool, and accommodations for 50 persons. The vessel has a satellite communications system with streaming video for real-time observation of work being done by shore personnel.
Kevin McEvoy, Senior Vice President, Western Region, stated, "A one-year term commitment for use of the Ocean Intervention is indicative of the tightening market demand for ROV equipped vessels capable of operating in deepwater. The award of this contract gives recognition to the unique design features of the Ocean Intervention and the service quality reputation we have earned through the efforts of our highly skilled personnel.
"The other services to be provided under this contract include diving and project management upon request. We also anticipate orders for specialty subsea products under separate contracts to support our Customer's IMR program."
Oceaneering is an advanced applied technology company that provides engineered services and hardware to Customers who operate in marine, space, and other harsh environments. Oceaneering's services and products are marketed worldwide to oil and gas companies, government agencies, and firms in the aerospace and marine engineering and construction industries.
For further information, please contact Jack Jurkoshek, Manager Investor Relations, Oceaneering International, Inc., 11911 FM 529, Houston, Texas 77041; Telephone 713-329-4670; Fax 713-329-4653; http://www.oceaneering.com; E-Mail investorrelations@oceaneering.com
Date: August 12, 2005
Organization: U.S. Navy Deep Submergence Unit
U.S. Navy DSU Team Returns from Rescue Mission
 The Navy transported two remotely operated 'Super Scorpio' vehicles in an effort to assist the rescue of seven Russian Sailors trapped on the ocean floor in a mini-submarine off the Kamchatka Peninsula. The Super Scorpios and a team of U.S. Navy technicians were flown from San Diego to Petropavolvsk. (Official U.S. Navy photo by Mr. Geoffrey Patrick)
San Diego, CA (By JOSN Joseph Caballero - Fleet Public Affairs Center, Pacific) - A Deep Submergence Unit (DSU) team returned to Naval Air Base North Island in Coronado, Calif., Aug. 8 after it participated in the rescue of Russian submariners trapped more than 1,600 feet under the Pacific Ocean near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. Russian officials said the AS-28 mini-sub "Priz" ran into fishing nets, which became entangled on the mini-sub's propeller. The mini-sub sank to 600 feet, a depth that divers cannot reach. Russia's government requested help, and within hours U.S., British and Japanese forces responded. With a limited amount of oxygen, the rescue effort was a race against time to free the sub and its crew. Four Sailors from the DSU team worked with the British, who brought with them a remotely operated vehicle (ROV).
The ROV, which is designed to cut through one-inch steel cable, successfully cut through the net entangling the mini-sub. After it was freed, the buoyant mini-sub floated to the surface. All seven Russian sailors are in stable condition, according to Russian officials.
IIt was that joint response that saved those sailors' lives," said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael A. Mullen during an all-hands call Aug. 9 at Naval Base San Diego. "If there's any representation of tremendous coming together and the great capability of the United States Navy and other navies from other countries, this was it." DSU's team arrived with its own gear prepared to save the sailors, but the British team was already on the scene. DSU responded to help the British team get to the mini-sub quicker.
"The focus was to save those guys as quickly as possible. This was really a team effort," said Electrician's Mate 2nd Class Kelly Sparlin, a diver with the team. "I know if I was trapped down there, I'd hope they'd come save me."
The DSU Sailors who went on the rescue mission were happy to help out overall. It is their mission and goal to save fellow submariners, according to the DSU's Commanding Officer Cmdr. Kent Van Horn.
"These men are a great group of Sailors. They love what they do," said Van Horn. "When you're part of the DSU command, you have to be ready to go rescue somebody on a minute's notice. We have to do it quickly and safely - and we did it."
Date: August 11, 2005
Team Who Rescued Sub Facing Axe
By John Innes (news.scotsman.com)- The Scottish team which saved the lives of seven Russian submariners could be disbanded if its rescue contract is not renewed, it has emerged. The team in charge of the robot submersible, managed and operated for the Royal Navy by contractors James Fisher Rumic, based in Renfrew, near Glasgow, is constantly on alert to fly to submarine emergencies anywhere in the world.
At the weekend, the team raced to the other side of the world to rescue seven Russian crewmen who became trapped in their mini-submarine after fishing-net cables snagged it on the Pacific floor off Russia's Kamchatka peninsula.
Flying from Scotland, the team managed to cut the Russian rescue submarine loose on Sunday.
But it has emerged that the company's contract with the Ministry of Defence will run out within months.
Managers, however, are hopeful that the contract will be renewed until 2007, when Rolls-Royce is due to take over the NATO Submarine Rescue System.
Rolls-Royce won the contract to provide submarine rescue services for the UK, France and Norway last June.
Nick Henry, the chief executive of James Fisher Rumic, said he hoped that Rolls-Royce would subcontract his firm to run the new equipment for the NATO deal, but he could offer no guarantees.
He added that he was determined to stop the group being broken up and said: "We will make sure that does not happen. We have a very close relationship [with the MoD] and we have got the people they need."
The MoD said it was unable to comment on individual contracts but that discussions were taking place.
Meanwhile, an investigation is under way into how the mini-submarine became trapped.
From the outset the British team raced against time to reach the stranded submariners and drew on support from the RAF, the United States navy and local Russian teams to fly them from Renfrew to the east coast of Russia.
They were then transported to a waiting ship, secured to the vessel and had to reach the offshore location in the Pacific within 36 hours.
The Russian crew had only six hours of oxygen left when they finally reached the surface after being freed by the remote-controlled Scorpio 45 underwater vehicle.
The vessel had spent five hours using its cameras and robot arm to cut through the cables which had held the AS-28 mini-submarine in their grip.
Date: August 10, 2005
Organization: Perry Slingsby Systems
Canyon Offshore Buys its fifth Triton XLS ROV System for Gulf of Mexico Operations
Perry Slingsby Systems (PSS), an international provider of remote intervention technologies and equipment systems, is pleased to announce that Canyon Offshore has recently purchased a 125 horse power Triton XLS ROV system. This vehicle is the 5th Triton XLS in the Canyon fleet, bringing Canyon Offshore's total of Perry Slingsby Systems supplied ROVs and Trencher systems to 19. The TXLS 07 is currently destined to support GOM ROV operations.
With the purchase of TXLS 07, Canyon has once again taken advantage of Perry Slingsby Systems ongoing stock build program. TXLS07 is currently in final production, for the complete ROV system, including a TMS, Control and Workshop Van, Power and Control Equipment, LARS and Umbilical system. The ROV is scheduled for operations by mid August.
Martin Anderson, Managing Director and CEO, Perry Slingsby Systems, commented "To meet the fast delivery needs of our clients for vehicles required on recently awarded operational contracts, Perry Slingsby Systems initiated a stock build program. From listening to and understanding the markets needs, we have established a build program that is proving time and time again to be what today's ROV clients need. Perry Slingsby Systems is investing in the production of high specification vehicle systems as stock, for immediate delivery, to meet the growing needs of our ROV clients. In addition to the stock build program, Perry Slingsby Systems has a well-established vehicle lease program and is moving forward on vehicle rental plans. We are very pleased that Canyon Offshore has once again chosen Perry Slingsby Systems to meet their ROV system needs and look forward to a strong continued relationship with them."
Perry Slingsby Systems, a member of the Technip Group, is an internationally recognized provider of remote intervention technologies and equipment systems. Perry Slingsby Systems focuses on six principal Business Lines: Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), Trenchers and Robotics; Standard and Bespoke Tooling Systems; Support Services; Defense; Process and Control Products; Geotechnical and Seabed Systems. For nearly 50 years, from facilities in the US and in the UK, sales offices and agents around the world, Perry Slingsby Systems has solved customers' remote intervention challenges with design and engineering innovations that have become the benchmark for reliability and cost efficiency.
Date: August 8, 2005
Russian Mini-sub Crew Rescued
Pearl Harbor (From U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs, www.news.navy.mil) - A Russian mini-sub and its seven crew members were successfully brought to the surface by an international rescue team sent to free them Aug. 7. The crew members were alive, and their condition was evaluated by a U.S. medical officer aboard the Russian ship. In a period of only a few hours from the time of the incident, Russian, British and U.S. resources were readied, deployed and brought to bear in a cooperative effort to free the seven sailors trapped more than 600 feet below the surface for two days.
Close, frequent communications from the very start of the operation between navy officials in Russia, Britain, Japan and the United States greatly facilitated the prompt and cooperative rescue efforts.
"The close team work and global coordination between our navies to rescue these sailors in such a short time is testimony to the spirit and determination of our nations," said Adm. Gary Roughead, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
In addition to the U.S. Navy doctor, three U.S. Navy divers supported the British remotely operated vehicle (ROV) team aboard the Russian ship in the rescue effort. The British ROV successfully cut the mini-sub free from fishing nets, and the mini-sub was able to surface due to its own positive buoyancy.
Date: August 8, 2005
Safe After 76 Hours Trapped on Seabed
 The rescue crew help the stricken submarine after it was freed from fishing nets and surfaced.
Picture: AFP/Getty Images
(Scotsman.com)- After 76 hours entombed at the bottom of the Pacific, the young Russian mini-submarine commander allowed himself a faint smile as he emerged from an ordeal that had a nation and the world holding its breath.
With a peremptory salute he led his crew down the gangway before telling the waiting world: "I feel good."
The race against time had been close. With just six hours of oxygen left, the trapped rescue submarine and its seven occupants were plucked to safety by a Scottish-based rescue craft.
Russia's defence minister personally thanked the rescuers while the families of the crew members "danced for joy".
During the final hours Lieutenant Vyacheslav Milashevsky had instructed his crew to don thermal suits, lie still and breathe lightly in the darkened mini-submarine to eke out the remaining oxygen as the temperature inside dipped to 5C.
The lights were switched off and there was only sporadic contact with the surface. One crewman said: "It was cold, cold, very cold."
Commander Ian Riches, the Royal Navy rescue team leader, said: "It must be like being inside a lift trapped between floors but a lot, lot deeper, cold and lonely."
Lt Milashevsky's wife said: "I was happy, I cried."
Almost exactly five years on from the Kursk disaster, the world again watched in horror as another Russian submarine drama unfolded. But fortunately for those inside the tiny AS-28 Priz in 600ft of water off the Kamchatka peninsula, the outcome was very different.
While the Russian authorities failed to call for help until several days after an explosion aboard the Kursk, their much speedier plea for assistance for the Priz enabled the Renfrew-based Royal Navy submarine escape and rescue team to arrive in the nick of time.
Commander Riches said the rescuers were "absolutely overjoyed" at their success. He said there was a charge across the deck of their Russian support ship after the freed craft surfaced on the opposite side from which they were expecting it.
The Russian navy expressed its sincere gratitude, but President Vladimir Putin has ordered an inquiry into the incident and Russian politicians have demanded to know why its navy did not have suitable rescue craft of its own.
The Royal Navy-led crew flew from Scotland on Friday night, uncertain whether the trapped Russians would have enough air to hold out.
Commander Riches had told The Scotsman at Prestwick on Friday that the team might be the Russians' best hope - and he was right. The team was able to prepare its remotely operated Scorpio 45 vehicle during the ten-hour flight, so it was ready to be launched shortly after reaching the scene late on Saturday night.
The successful operation came in stark contrast to the secrecy surrounding the Kursk incident, to which the team had also been belatedly called, but never deployed.
Team members found themselves working at the weekend with Russians with whom they had staged a joint submarine rescue exercise off the Italian coast just three weeks ago.
The Russian AS-28 craft, just longer than a bus, became entangled in fishing nets and underwater antennae during a combat training exercise on Thursday.
Less than 24 hours later, in response to a plea for international assistance, the British team had mobilised along with counterparts in the United States and Japan.
Russian ships had tried to drag the submarine into shallower water where divers could reach it, but were able to move it only about 100 yards.
The Scorpio 45, the size of a Mini car, was launched from the deck of a Russian cable-laying ship, with its cutting equipment slicing through the nets and cables to free the stricken mini-submarine and enable it to re-surface. Commander Riches said that by the time the trapped men were raised to the surface, "they were running out of oxygen."
"There were a lot of difficulties involved, but it was extremely rewarding and it wouldn't have been possible without the superb co-operation of the Russian navy.
"We went down using our cameras and our sonar and located the mini-submarine near the seabed tangled up in a quite considerable mess of fishing nets. It was wrapped around her propeller and wrapped around her as well."
Ben Sharples, the project director for the Scorpio 45's civilian operators, said: "It is fantastic for both the Russian crew and for our team, as this is what they are trained for.
"Everything went very well - it all fitted into place. The guys were absolutely elated to have been able to help. It shows what we are capable of doing - reaching the scene within 36 hours of a call-out with a vehicle in the water effecting a rescue."
Sergei Ivanov, the Russian defence minister who will head the government inquiry, said: "We have seen in deeds, not in words, what the brotherhood of the sea means." He said the biggest cable was from a fishing net laid by poachers.
Admiral Viktor Fyodorov, the commander of Russia's Pacific fleet, said: "Today was a very happy event."
But Gennady Zyuganov, the Communist party leader, said: "It is completely incomprehensible why the British have the necessary technology, but we don't."
The US had also sent remote-controlled underwater vehicles for the rescue, but they arrived several hours after the British vehicle and were not used.
John Reid, the Defence Secretary, expressed his delight at the success. He said: "Britain has a world-leading capability in the field of submarine rescue, and we have been able to utilise that capability to save lives."
Operation marks the first lives saved by Navy rescue craft
The successful operation marked the first lives to be saved by the Royal Navy's current generation of rescue craft, which are operated by civilian contractors James Fisher Defence and based in Renfrew, near Glasgow.
The Scorpio 45 remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) and its sister vessel, the LR5 mini-submarine - similar to the trapped Russian craft - are on permanent standby to fly anywhere in the world at 12 hours' notice.
Half of the eight-strong crew of the ROV, led by supervisor Stuart Gold, are Scottish and several were on the aborted mission to save the Kursk in August 2000, in which all 118 men aboard the Russian submarine died.
The craft spends 30 days a year in the water. Scorpio 45 took part in an international exercise in the Gulf of Taranto in south-eastern Italy last month, and LR5 is involved in one off Bergen in Norway.
The Scorpio 45, which has four cameras, a robot arm with two cutting devices and a large hook, has previously been used in the North Sea, to recover mines, torpedoes and aircraft. It weighs 1.4 tonnes and has a top speed of 5mph.
The two craft are due to be replaced by the £47 million NATO Submarine Rescue System next year, whose twin components are similar but will be able to dive deeper and travel faster. James Fisher Defence is part of Cumbria-based Rumic, which has held the naval contract for 15 years.
Horrors of Kursk resurface as Putin's crisis plan queried
They were images that were seared into the minds of the Kremlin: five years ago, as the Kursk submarine disaster unfolded, TV pictures showed the distraught wives of the doomed crew begging to know why Moscow had refused offers of foreign help for five long days.
The resulting furore was a disaster for the tenure of the president, Vladimir Putin.
"The Kursk sailors fell silent yesterday," newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda said at the time. "Why is the president silent?". It was a mistake the Kremlin was determined not to repeat.
Yet such a scenario seemed to be repeating itself last Thursday. Almost five years to the day after the Kursk went down, news came of a submarine again trapped far below the surface. And once again the navy declined foreign help. "We can handle it" was the message from crusty admirals who joined the navy during the Cold War, when secrecy was more important than the lives of ordinary sailors.
But the difference, this time around, was Sergie Ivanov. Russia's defence minister, a former KGB colonel and long-time friend of Mr Putin, seemed determined not to endure a second Kursk.
Russia is a member of an international group of navies pledged to help each other in times of crisis, and on Thursday Mr Ivanov demanded the navy ring the bell. A crash-meeting was held that night with Russian liaison officers at America's Pearl Harbour naval headquarters in Hawaii, while calls went out through British and Japanese embassies in Moscow.
This decision to get help early almost certainly meant the difference between life and death for the sailors.
The British won the race and the Russian sailors worked mightily to get the craft to the disaster scene.
Yet even as the crisis unfolded, Russia's navy brass insisted the foreign help would not be needed. "Nobody wanted to use this help," said the Moscow journalist Anya Shpakova. "All the military guys said they will do it themselves."
They could not. After three days of fumbling effort, it was a British mini sub that cut the cables that had ensnared the submarine.
One change from the Kursk tragedy is the flow of information. The crew's families were kept informed.
President Putin has now ordered an inquiry, which is likely to focus on why, once more, the navy tried to delay getting out the bad news.
One thing seems clear: while Russia has undergone chaotic somersaults in moving from Communism to a form of capitalism in the 15 years since the Soviet Union was dissolved, its armed forces remain trapped in Cold War thinking, blissfully unaware that the outside world has moved on.
Date: August 7, 2005
UK Sub Saves Sailors From Death
The Russians trapped in a submarine beneath the Pacific Ocean for three days would have died had it not been for British help, a naval expert says. A British team used a remote-controlled mini-sub to cut free the vessel, which became snagged on debris on Thursday. (BBC)- The mini-sub Priz had dropped to 190m (620ft) off the Kamchatka peninsula.
Commander Ian Riches, of the Submarine Escape and Rescue team, said conditions for the seven crew, who all survived, would have been "pretty awful".
"If we'd not been able to cut them free... they would have died," Cmdr Riches said.
"From the Russian perspective, it was probably getting quite cold, dark because they would have been saving electricity; the atmosphere would have been getting quite foul with a rise of carbon dioxide which would have been making them quite unwell."
International help
Cmdr Riches said the Russians had learned valuable lessons from the sinking of the submarine Kursk five years ago, when the authorities were criticised for not asking for international help soon enough after all 118 crew on board died.
He said the Russians were now more willing to ask for expertise.
The British rescuers hoped to meet up with the seven Russians whose lives they had saved.
Cmdr Riches said: "We are keen to meet them and shake their hands."
The British Scorpio craft, an unmanned underwater robot, sliced through nets entangling the submarine, stranded for three days beneath the Pacific Ocean.
Russian defence minister Sergei Ivanov rang Mr Reid to offer his thanks.
"The rescue operation has had a happy ending. I thank everyone, including of course the British rescuers," Pacific fleet commander Admiral Viktor Fyodorov said.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said he had also been closely following events.
The Russian submarine's crew had faced dwindling oxygen supplies and low temperatures.
On Sunday, the Russian Foreign Ministry gave its "profound thanks" to the UK, Japan and the US for their aid.
Mr Ivanov offered his "deepest thanks and appreciation".
"The UK were the first to come, they played a crucial part and we do appreciate that. This was an ordeal for seven families and I send my thanks to the Royal Navy."
Defence Secretary John Reid said: "Britain has a world-leading capability in the field of submarine rescue and we have been able to utilise that capability to save lives."
The rescue team included members of staff from Cumbria and west Scotland employed by specialist marine firm James Fisher Rumic.
And Commander Jonty Powis, a Royal Navy specialist on submarine escape, said the rescue was "an excellent result".
"We were conscious that the crew were running out of oxygen and that we could not afford any great delays in cutting them free."
The British vehicle, known as a Remotely-Operated Vehicle (ROV), is an unmanned remote-controlled submersible that is used in situations that are too dangerous or too deep to send divers.
Assistance was provided by a team of Russian experts and a small team of US divers who assisted with breathing apparatus.
The Priz - itself a rescue vehicle - had been on a training exercise when it got snagged.
The crew had reportedly coped with the temperatures of around 6C (42.8F) and dwindling oxygen supplies by wearing thermal suits and keeping still.
Reports varied on the cause of the sinking. Officials said the mini-submarine was trapped by both a vast fishing net and an underwater antenna.
The Scorpio was accompanied by an operating crew of eight civilians and one Royal Navy member - as well as 20 other staff, including British police officers.
 The Scorpio was flown out from Britain.
- SCORPIO CRAFT
- Length: 2.75m
- Width: 1.8m
- Height: 1.8m
- Max depth: 925m
- Tools: Cable cutter, lifting arms, pumps Cameras: Three
The AS-28 'Priz' minisub can operate at depths of 1,000m, but 190m is too deep to allow the crew to attempt escape.
Date: August 7, 2005
Russian Mini-Sub Crew Reports Readiness To Surface, as British Scorpio Cuts the Cables
Left: Vyacheslav Milashevsky, 25, the commander of the Russian mini-submarine, family photo. Right: Super Scorpio, from US Navy Archives
Russian AS-28 mini-sub crew reports readiness for emersion. During the last contact they made with the rescue HQ, the crew members said their condition was 'satisfactory', RIA Novosti information agency had learned from sources in the Russian Pacific Fleet.
British Scorpio remote operated vehicle (ROV), that had been dropped into the waters of Berezovaya Bay at 02:25am on Sunday, is now approaching the trapped Russian mini-sub. A clear picture of AS-28 is broadcasted from video cameras on board the Scorpio since 02:43am, Russian Navy spokesman Captain Igor Dygalo told the press. According to Dygalo, the Scorpio has now started to cut the cable, that is holding the Russian mini-sub trapped underwater. Dygalo also said, that the AS-28 was given the order to get ready for emersion, around 02:40 Moscow time. All Russian ships at the rescue operation site were also instructed to get ready for the mini-sub's surfacing.
As we reported earlier, two more Super Scorpios, flown to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky by the US Navy, are currently being loaded on board of the Georgy Kozmin rescue ship, and it will take them three more hours of sailing to reach the scene, where the British rescue vessel now operates.
Date: August 6, 2005
Vehicle Begins Cutting Cable Tangling Sub
Technicians and soldiers unload one of two unmanned submersibles, known as Super Scorpios, from a U.S. military transport C-5, at Yelozovo airport near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia Saturday Aug. 6, 2005, in this image from television. U.S. and British planes carrying robotic undersea vehicles landed in Russia's Far East on Saturday to help rescue seven sailors trapped in a mini-submarine deep in the Pacific Ocean. (AP Photo/NTV Russian Channel)
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia (By Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press Writer) - Rescue crews lowered a British remote-controlled underwater vehicle to a Russian mini-submarine trapped deep under the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, hoping to free the vessel and its seven trapped crewmen before their air supply ran out. British crews, who arrived some hours earlier at the remote Kamchatka Peninsula, were working with Russian naval authorities to maneuver the Super Scorpio unmanned robotic vehicle and untangle the AS-28, which was caught up by a military listening antenna 625 feet below the surface nearly three days ago.
Capt. Igor Dygalo told The Associated Press that workers lowered the Super Scorpio at around 11:30 a.m. local time at the site in Beryozovaya Bay about 10 miles off the east coast of the peninsula, north of Japan.
The Super Scorpio then began cutting cables that had tangled the sub, Russian news agencies reported.
Earlier, Russian rescuers looped cables under the antenna, hoping to bring both it and the 44-foot-long sub closer to the surface where divers could reach the crew.
Russian authorities hope British and American unmanned submersibles, sent after a Russian plea for help, can cut the submarine loose. They are trying desperately to avoid losing a sub crew as they did with the Kursk nuclear submarine, which sank almost exactly five years ago, killing all 118 aboard.
A U.S. crew with two other Super Scorpio vehicles, meanwhile, was also making its way to the site after landing later on the rain-soaked peninsula.
As the American submersibles and crews were being loaded onto ships near the port of Petropavlovsky-Kamchatsky, Cmdr. Bill Hamblet, an assistant U.S. naval attache helping the operation, said the three countries were cooperating with their best equipment and teams.
"It's hard to do anything at that depth, but everyone will try and do their best to save the crew," he told the AP.
Navy estimates of how long the air would last ranged from the end of Saturday until Monday.
The Russian navy made contact with the crew late Saturday, and Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Viktor Fyodorov said their condition was "satisfactory" despite temperatures of 41 to 45 degrees.
"They're not giving up hope," Fyodorov said.
"I assure you, work is continuing without interruption through night and day and will not stop until we actually lift our guys up to the surface," he said. It was not clear if contact with the crew was made by radio or through some other means, but officials said it was taking place every few hours.
Russia's plea for international assistance underlined the deficiencies of its once-mighty navy and strongly contrasted with the August 2000 sinking of the Kursk, when authorities held off asking for help until hope was nearly exhausted. Some of the 118 crew survived for many hours as breathable air ran out.
Rear Adm. Vladimir Pepelyayev, deputy head of the navy's general staff, said the air would likely last to the end of the day and possibly through Sunday. Fyodorov gave a similar estimate, but later was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying there was enough to last until Monday.
"They have the air. But you can imagine their state of mind after two days," Pepelyayev said.
Officials said the Russian submarine was participating in a combat training exercise and got snarled on an underwater antenna assembly that is part of a coastal monitoring system. The system is anchored with a weight of about 66 tons, according to news reports.
Russia's cash-strapped navy apparently lacks rescue vehicles capable of operating at the depth where the sub is stranded, and officials say it is too deep for divers or for the crew to swim out on their own. An earlier attempt to drag the vessel to shallower waters failed when cables detached after pulling it some 65 yards.
"We won't try to drag it anymore; we will try to lift the whole system, rip it off and bring it to the surface," Fyodorov said. He said rescuers would try to raise the vessel by lifting with enough force to pull two heavy concrete anchors from the sea floor.
The new crisis indicated that promises by President Vladimir Putin to improve the navy's equipment apparently have had little effect. He was criticized for his slow response to the Kursk crisis and reluctance to accept foreign assistance.
By early Sunday, Putin had made no public comment on the latest sinking, but Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov flew to Kamchatka and was traveling to the site of the rescue operation.
Date: August 5, 2005
Navy Mounts Rescue Effort For Trapped Russian Mini-Sub
 Navy crews load rescue equipment onto an Air Force C-5 transport plane Friday at Naval Air Station Coronado, Calif. - Sandy Huffaker / AP photo
(By Christopher Munsey, Marine Corps Times staff writer) - Within hours of receiving word that a Russian mini-submarine and its seven crew members were trapped 625 feet down on the Pacific floor, the U.S. Navy began planning a rescue effort. Late on Aug. 4 Hawaii time, rescuers were gathering and their equipment was being loaded onto planes for a cross-Pacific airlift the following morning. First on call were about 30 sailors from the San Diego-based Deep Submergence Unit, who operate the unmanned, deep-diving Super Scorpio remotely operated vehicles.
"In our business, minutes count," said Capt. Russell Ervin, commander of the rescue unit that operates the Scorpios, as he stood on the tarmac at North Island Naval Air Station. Behind him, crews were loading a huge Air Force C-5 Galaxy for the 10-hour flight to Russia. "We're the 911 force for submarine rescue," Ervin said.
The Navy got the request for assistance from the Russian navy after the rescue submarine got stuck on the sea floor about 50 miles south of Kamchatka's capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, in Beryozovaya Bay, apparently after fouling its propeller in fishing cable. The Kamchatka Peninsula is northeast of Japan and east of Alaska's Aleutian Islands.
Operated from a portable control room on the surface, the tethered ROVs will be able to dive down to the stricken sub.
Using robot-operated cable-cutters, the ROV can be used to cut the submarine free, said Capt. Chris Murray, deputy director for Deep Submergence Systems for Director, Submarine Warfare Division at the Pentagon.
Murray briefed reporters on the Navy's rescue assistance effort Aug. 5 at the Pentagon. The ROVs are kept ready to go by the unit, which can deploy worldwide with just hours' notice.
Besides the Navy-operated ROVs, two atmospheric diving suits operated by civilian divers and another civilian-operated ROV called Deep Drone were being readied for the airlift to Russia, Murray said.
The preliminary plan called for flying the Super Scorpio ROVs via an Air Force C-5 Galaxy to an airport near the port of Petropavlovsk, trucking it to a ship, and steaming more than 50 miles out to the mini-submarine for the rescue effort. It should take about six hours to actually get to the scene once on the ground in Russia, according to Lt. Erik Reynolds, a public affairs officer with Commander, Submarine Squadron 11, at Point Loma Naval Base, Calif.
"Obviously, there's a timeline with the amount of life support," Murray said.
If needed, divers using the ADS suits would be able to reach the submarine and use tools to help cut the cables away, he said.
ROVs were picked for the effort because the Navy's other submarine rescue assets, such as the Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle Mystic and the Submarine Rescue Chamber, cannot mate with the Russian sub, Murray said.
According to press reports, the submarine is the AS-28, a 44-foot long rescue submarine. In one report, a Russian admiral said the crew had enough air to last until Aug. 8.
Stuck on the bottom, the crew faces two threats to their survival: running out of air, and the gradual build-up of carbon dioxide, a byproduct of breathing, experts said.
On submarines, chemicals such as lithium hydroxide are used to absorb carbon dioxide from the air, said Demetri Capetanopoulos, a former submarine officer and DSRV pilot now with the Battelle Memorial Institute.
Carbon dioxide is toxic if it builds up to high levels, Capetanopoulos said.
Outside experts such as retired Navy Capt. Don Walsh, the first Navy pilot of the deep-sea diving craft Trieste, said using ROVs to free the submarine is a practical plan. ROVs have freed submersibles from entanglements like fishing lines and cables before, Walsh said.
"What you need is an ROV to go cut the thing free, but the devil's in the details, and you have to get out to the site," he said.
Since the destruction of the Russian submarine Kursk, with the loss of 118 lives, in the Barents Sea five years ago, submarine-operating navies are more closely coordinating their submarine rescue training and exercises.
Earlier this summer, Russian divers practiced rescues with Navy divers off the coast of Italy during the Sorbet Royal exercise, Murray said.
One result of that closer cooperation is the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office in Norfolk, Va., which stood up in October.
An electronic clearinghouse for information about submarine rescue assets worldwide, ISMERLO hosts chat rooms where rescue experts from different navies can converse and decide what kind of equipment and personnel is needed for a rescue.
ISMERLO was activated at around 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 5, said Lt. Cmdr. Jensin Sommer, a spokeswoman for Commander, Naval Submarine Force.
Within hours, experts from ISMERLO, Naval Sea Systems Command, the Deep Submergence Unit and the Royal Navy had been alerted, and were online and discussing options, Sommer said.
"Clearly, the ability to have a forum where people can get online and share information is helpful," she said.
Date: August 5, 2005
Oxygen Dwindling For Seven in Russian Sub
Vladivostok, Russia (By Yevgeny Kulkov, Associated Press Writer) - Russian, U.S. and British forces were scrambling to rescue seven Russian sailors trapped with dwindling oxygen supplies 600 feet under the Pacific on a mini-submarine caught on an underwater antenna.
The commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet, Adm. Viktor Fyodorov, said rescuers were hoping to tow the AS-28 naval sub into shallower waters off the Kamchatka Peninsula and send divers down to the crewmen who have been trapped in it for two days at a depth of 600 feet. A British military plane and a U.S. Air Force jet carrying remote-controlled underwater robots took off for the disaster scene in Russia's Far East, north of Japan.
Moscow asked for outside assistance within hours of news breaking about the sub's plight -- a speedy request that was a marked change since the Kursk nuclear submarine disaster in 2000, when Russian officials waited until hope was all but exhausted. All 118 died aboard the Kursk.
The vessel became stuck on Thursday, and was the subject of desperate rescue efforts and widely varying estimates of how much oxygen remained on board.
Both the U.S. and British rescue teams could reach the site off the Kamchatka Peninsula in time -- if earlier estimates that there was enough oxygen to keep the seven alive for 24 hours held true.
Fyodorov said early Saturday that there was oxygen for "at least 18 hours," a distinctly less optimistic statement than his earlier assertion that the air would last into Monday. Later Saturday, however, news agencies quoted him as saying there was air for "more than 24 hours."
"The situation is not simple. I don't want to overdramatize the situation, but also at the same time, I don't want to say it is absolutely, so to speak, easy and momentarily resolvable," Fyodorov said in comments televised on NTV.
The confusion over the air supply darkly echoed the sinking of the Kursk almost exactly five years ago. That disaster shocked Russians and deeply embarrassed the country by demonstrating how Russia's once-mighty navy had deteriorated as funding dried up following the 1991 Soviet collapse.
The new crisis is also highly embarrassing for Russia, which will hold an unprecedented joint military exercise with China later this month, including the use of submarines to settle an imaginary conflict in a foreign land. In the exercise, Russia is to field a naval squadron and 17 long-haul aircraft.
Navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo told The Associated Press that rescuers had managed to move the sub about 60 yards toward shore with the help of a Russian remote vehicle that was transmitting pictures. Fyodotov, however, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that the process was taking too long and rescuers would try to attach a tow line.
The rescue effort underscores that promises by President Vladimir Putin to improve the navy's equipment have apparently had little effect. Authorities initially said a mini-sub would be sent to try to aid the stranded one, but the navy later said it was not equipped to go that deep.
Putin was criticized for his slow response to the Kursk crisis and reluctance to accept foreign assistance. By early Saturday, Putin had made no public comment on the latest sinking.
The sailors were in contact with authorities and were not hurt, Pacific Fleet spokesman Capt. Alexander Kosolapov said. Their mini-submarine was trapped in Beryozovaya Bay, about 45 miles south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the capital of the peninsular region in Russia's far east.
The United States and Britain sent unmanned underwater rescue vehicles called Super Scorpios, and Japanese ships also rushed to the area. It was the first time since the World War II era that a U.S. military plane has been allowed to fly to the peninsula, home to numerous Russian military facilities.
A Navy spokeswoman said a remote vehicle known as a Deep Drone 8000 that can operate at depths up to 8,000 feet had also been sent.
The flight from Naval Air Station North Island near San Diego to Petropavlovsk on Russia's eastern coast was expected to take 10 to 12 hours. The Scorpios and their equipment will then have to be loaded aboard a vessel and taken to the stricken mini-sub's location.
"We're the 911 force for submarine rescue," said Navy Capt. Russell Ervin, a reserve with Deep Submergence Unit 5. "In our business, minutes count."
The British Scorpio, being carried on a Royal Air Force C-17 transport plane, was expected to arrive at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at about 7 p.m. Saturday local time, or 2 a.m. EDT. The U.S. plane was expected to land about 10:30 p.m. local time, or 5:30 a.m. EDT.
The mini-sub, which became disabled after it was launched from a ship in a combat training exercise, was too deep to allow the sailors to swim to the surface on their own or for divers to reach it, Russian officials said.
Although the Russian navy reportedly ended its deep-sea diving training programs a decade ago because of funding shortages, it does have a device called the Kolokolchik, essentially an updated diving bell, that can be used for some underwater rescues.
However, the mini-sub lies so deep that the device apparently would be useless.
U.S. divers, presumably with better equipment, rushed to the scene to help if necessary. In Belle Chasse, La., a marine services company sent sophisticated deep sea diving suits and a diving crew on board a military plane.
The Japanese ships were not expected to arrive until early next week.
Dygalo, the navy spokesman, initially said on state-run Rossiya television that the sub got trapped when its propeller became entangled in a fishing net Thursday. But Fyodorov later said the sub was stuck on an antenna, and Dygalo described the antenna as a "Pacific Fleet coastal infrastructure object."
The trapped AS-28, which looks like a small submarine, was built in 1989. It is about 44 feet long and more than 18 feet high. A vessel of the same type was used in the rescue efforts that followed the Kursk disaster.
Since Soviet times, the Kamchatka Peninsula has housed several major submarine bases and numerous other military facilities, and large areas of it remain closed to outsiders.
Despite strong criticism for Putin's response to the Kursk disaster, he was re-elected in 2004 and his supporters command an overwhelming majority in parliament, making the political fallout of the latest sinking likely minimal.
Members of the U.S. Air Force 89th Aerial Port squadron unload the U.S. Navy Deep Drone 8000, a remotely operated salvage and diving vehicle, at Andrews Air Force Base Friday, Aug. 5, 2005 outside Washington. The unmanned U.S. Navy deep ocean recovery vehicle is being dispatched to Russia via U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane to rescue seven Russian sailors trapped with dwindling oxygen supplies 600 feet under the Pacific on a mini-submarine caught on an underwater antenna. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Date: August 5, 2005
Organization: Russia's Pacific Fleet
Rescuers To Tow Trapped Sub
 A Russian mini rescue submarine, AS-34, called a Priz, the same type as the mini-sub trapped on Friday on Pacific seabed.
Vladivostok - Russian naval rescuers have hooked a mini-submarine stranded with seven people far under the Pacific Ocean and are trying to tow it to safety, the commander of the Pacific Fleet said on Russian television on Saturday. "We have hooked onto the whole system that our bathyscaph is in," Adm. Viktor Fyodorov told the NTV television channel by telephone from the Russian Far East.
Fyodorov had made a similar statement several hours earlier, which was disputed by other naval officials, but the latest appeared stronger.
Meanwhile, Britain's Royal Navy is to join efforts to free the crew by sending a remote control submersible to the scene, officials in London said on Friday.
The underwater vehicle - officially called Remotely Operated Vehicle Scorpio 45 - can operate at a depth of up to 925 metres and is fitted with three cameras and cutters that can slice through steel cables, the Ministry of Defence in London said.
Seven Russian sailors are thought to be on the mini-submarine, designed for use in rescue, research and intelligence-gathering missions, and which is trapped after part of a fishing net became entangled in its propeller.
The submarine has enough oxygen to last until Monday, the commander of Russia's Pacific fleet said on Friday.
Transport
A Royal Air Force C-17 transport plane was due to fly to Glasgow to collect the remote control device, and would head to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a port city in far eastern Russia, an MoD statement said.
It would then be loaded onto a Russian ship to go to the scene of the accident, off the Kamchatka peninsula.
"The Remotely Operated Vehicle is a world-class capability being offered by Britain as part of the international response to this ongoing incident," said Ian Riches, head of the MoD's submarine escape and rescue team.
"We all hope that by the time we get to the scene that the Russian sailors will have been rescued. But we are deploying so that the ROV can be in place as a contingency if required by the Russians."
Earlier on Friday, the US navy's Pacific Fleet said it was airlifting two remotely operated submersible vehicles to the site to help with rescue efforts, while Japan has also dispatched four military ships.
Date: August 5, 2005
Organization: U.S. Navy
San Diego-Based Team To Help Stranded Russian Sub
 (Photo: Greg Magnus/Union-Tribune; The Super Scorpio sits on the bed of a truck ready for loading shortly after 8 a.m. PST Friday morning.)
San Diego, CA - A specialized Navy remote submersible team was preparing to leave Friday morning for the Russian Pacific coast to try to help save the crew of a mini-submarine trapped at the bottom of the ocean. A Navy spokeswoman said the team is going to load two of its remote-operated submersibles and 30 people onto a C-5 transport plane for a 10- to 12-hour flight to Petropavlovsk, a port city on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The team expects to leave at 10:30 a.m.
The Russian mini-sub's crew is trapped 600 feet below the surface, 35 miles southeast of the coast, and has only one day of air.
"ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) are the best option to try and get these folks as quickly as possible," said Lt. Cmdr Lisa Brackenbury, a U.S. Navy spokeswoman in San Diego.
The unmanned vehicle, called a Super Scorpio, is 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet and weighs 4,500 pounds, with robotic arms, high-powered lights, cameras and sonar. It is typically used to conduct underwater surveys and inspections and can reach depths of up to 5,000 feet, said Capt. Matt Brown, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet in Honolulu.
The vehicle's mechanical arms could be used to cut away a fishing net or cables, which officials believe might have snared the Russian mini-submarine.
 "We've been in close coordination and in contact with the Russian Navy," Brown told KNSD-TV Channel 7 this morning. "We are trying to work this as quickly as we can. Time is of the essence for us."
(Photo: U.S. Navy, chinfo.navy.mil;
A view of Super Scorpio submerged and underway.)
Date: August 5, 2005
Sea Robots Play Critical Role in Navy
To read this AP article, please click here.
Date: August 5, 2005
Organization: Sub Sea Research
Sub Sea Research Team Discovers Valuable 18th Century Shipwreck
The Sub Sea Research team discovered an 18th century shipwreck believed to contain a king's horde of gold, silver, doubloons and jewels more spectacular than the $400 million treasure recovered by Mel Fisher from the sunken galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha has been found in deep water about 60 miles southwest of Key West.
Portland, ME (PRWEB) - Underwater explorers who've examined the wreck say their research indicates that it's the Notre Dame de Deliverance - a 166-foot, armed merchant vessel of French origin. The research includes surveys of the site by state-of-the-art remote sensing devices, ROVs and divers, a study of historical records, and the discovery that a few silver items - including a crucifix, plate and some coins - were brought up years ago by other salvagers. Recent underwater video footage is now being analyzed to determine the best procedure for recovery. Greg Brooks and John Hardy of the Sub Sea Research states "It was one of the richest ships ever lost. "They estimate the value of the Deliverance's trove could be between $2 billion and $3 billion. The Deliverance departed Havana on Halloween with an armed escort of seven or eight smaller, schooner-like vessels according to Brooks' research in Cuba and elsewhere. The ship soon met a fate that Brooks now believes was remarkably similar to what befell the Atocha and its hapless crew in surrounding waters 133 years earlier.
The hurricane struck the night after the ship left Havana, its eye passing over Havana to the southwest. The escorting ships reportedly were able to survive the storm and sailed across the outer reefs to eventually anchor on the northwest side of the Marquesas Keys to ride out the storm until the following morning, according to a research report prepared by Brooks and Sub Sea researcher Edward Michaud.
An incomplete manifest of the Deliverance cargo that was on board at the time of sinking declares those riches to include 17 chests packed with nearly 1,200 pounds of gold bullion, 15,000 gold doubloons, six chests of gems, and more than a million silver pieces. That doesn't count contraband or any valuable belongings of passengers.
Before he hunted sunken treasure, Brooks built swimming pools for a living. Over a decade ago, after 19 years in that business, he cashed out to find his fortune. Brooks' principal partner and fellow investor is John Hardy, a former National Aeronautics and Space Administration engineer who currently runs a La-Z-Boy Furniture Gallery in South Portland.
Brooks says he's personally spent a million dollars so far in the hunt for treasure that he believes has led him to the Deliverance. He's helped make ends meet doing salvage work for insurance companies. Brooks, who is married and has an 18-year-old daughter, has plans to create a shipwreck museum and aquarium in Portland.
Sub Sea Research's primary recovery vessel is the 105-foot M/V Diamond, a converted U.S. Navy torpedo retriever that's currently docked on Stock Island near Key West.
Timbers: The wreck is in over 200 feet of water. It is in remarkable condition.
 Diver taking still shots to verify locations of artifacts.
Sub Sea Research LLC is a privately held limited liability corporation based in Portland, Maine. Founded in 1984 by Greg and Kathy Brooks and joined by Lois and John Hardy as principal partners in 1993, the company has achieved a continued steady success rate in locating and recovering researched historic shipwrecks worldwide and continues to develop the Shipwreck Institute of Maine Project, as well as a planned maritime museum in Haiti. For more information, visit www.subsearesearch.com.
Contact: Greg Brooks, 207-879-1758
Date: August 5, 2005
Organization: Cyprus/Atlantis Expedition
Sonar Scans of Cyprus/Atlantis Expedition
 Nicosia (ANA/CNA) - The sonar scans of man-made structures more than one mile below the surface of the water off the southeast coast of Cyprus were presented in Nicosia Thursday for the first time by Robert Sarmast, head of the Cyprus/Atlantis Expedition project for the first time.
Announcing the results of last year's expedition to find one of humankind's greatest mysteries, the legendary Atlantis, Sarmast presented three dimensional underwater side-scan sonar pictures of structures 1.5 km below sea level, 80 km off the southeast coast of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean.
He said it was no coincidence that his team discovered a 3km long straight wall intersected at right angles by another wall, adding that this will silence any remaining skepticism about his longstanding claims that modern Cyprus is what remains of a much larger and now partly sunken mass which fits Plato's description of the ancient land of Atlantis.
Sarmast said he is "dedicated to making this discovery a part of something that will benefit Cyprus for decades to come", and announced that he is working with the Cyprus government and has the full support of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation.
In addition, he also announced a partnership with TMC Entertainment group[ (Los Angeles/USA) that will undertake a two-hour Atlantis documentary for the second expedition with the last half hour of it being a live broadcast from the ship.
During the second expedition, he said, his team will lower the ROV submersibles to the wall in an effort to film it and this will be broadcast live.
Sarmast said the team will do a preliminary survey of the area with the ROVs by October and probably next May will proceed with the submarines and the live broadcast.
"We pinpointed one mountain because it was such a perfect match with the Acropolis Hill as well as with the rectangular valley, the mountain and so forth. We went there, did a survey there and that's exactly where it was and nowhere else. This can not be a coincidence,'' he told reporters.
He also said that no scientist can say that the formations found were natural.
Asked to comment on criticism that he is an American looking for oil in the area, Sarmast said: "I am an Iranian-American. The target area that we are investigating is in international waters, and if anyone wanted to look for oil, they would not do it with our little operation. That's ludicrous. I am not a spy, I am really looking for Atlantis''.
Date: August 4, 2005
Organization: National Marine Aquarium (UK)
UK's National Marine Aquarium Will Be Testing Seaeye Falcon ROV
A Falcon Among Sharks
Plymouth, United Kingdom (www.divenews.com) - This August 2005, UK's National Marine Aquarium will be testing the very latest in underwater Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs) as it plays host for one day only to Falcon, a true 'boys-toys' of underwater technology. The Seaeye Falcon is a portable and powerful ROV normally intended for use in the professional subsea industries, for inspection, observation and survey operations in coastal or inshore waters.
Weighing around 50kg, the meter long Falcon ROV will be launched into the National Marine Aquarium's Mediterranean Tank to swim with the sharks as well as beam live footage back to the visitors. Visitors will be able to see parts of the 3-story tank not usually seen and will be able to get closer to sharks than ever before.
Communications Manager, Melanie Cowie said: "This ROV is a fantastic piece of technology - it can dive to a staggering 300m, and whilst our deep tank, the deepest in Europe, is no match at 10.5 metres, it does mean people will be able to get perfect views of this space-age machine."
Visitors will be able to not only see themselves from a fish-eye perspective, but will be able to get up-close and personal to our sharks and thousands of other fish in this huge tank - the closest they can possibly get without getting wet!"
The Falcon, similar to ones currently being used in underwater exploration such as the ROV used in the opening titles of the film Titanic, will also be used to test visitors' reaction to such technology.
This is the first time this type of technology has been used in this way and follows a new direction for the National Marine Aquarium. The Falcon test-dive marks a very important stage towards the Aquarium's new ExplorOcean Science and Technology Centre which is due to open early next year.
Kelvin Boot, Aquarium Director said: "When ExplorOcean opens next spring, visitors will be able to fly ROV's just like this one in a marine-version of Robot-Wars. But as well as using such equipment in the new, specially designed tanks, we will also be taking technology like the Falcon out into Plymouth Sound where we can reveal the fantastic life that lies beneath the surface - one that is hidden from most people."
For more information, visit National Marine Aquarium.
Date: August 3, 2005
Organization: Deep Sea Systems International
Interview with Deep Sea Systems Founder Chris Nicholson on ROVeXchange
 There is a new interview up on ROVeXchange.com featuring Chris Nicholson of Deep Sea Systems International. The interview starts off with a brief historical outline on Chris himself, which includes how DSSI came to be. In it Chris also talks about the recent company events and gives us a look ahead at the future products of DSSI. Please visit http://www.rovexchange.com/nc_interviews.php to read the interview.
Date: August 2, 2005
Organization: Statoil
Major ROV Contracts Placed With Statoil
(Toronto,ON, Canada) - Contracts and frame agreements relating to the use of remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) with a total value of around NOK 1.8 billion have been awarded by Statoil to four companies.
Date: August 1, 2005
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Ocean Researchers Use ROV to Document Regions Threatened by Climate Change
Contrary to popular opinion, the remote and inhospitable Canadian Arctic is teeming with life, says a team of international scientists who just completed a 30-day expedition to the northern ocean.
In the months and years ahead, 45 scientists from the U.S., Canada, China and Russia that took part in the Hidden Ocean expedition will pore over thousands of photographs, ice samples and ocean specimens collected in the Canada Basin.
"We were surprised. There was an awful lot more life up here than what people expected and believe there is," said Russ Hopcroft, a Canadian researcher and assistant professor at the Institute of Marine Science at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.
Hopcroft said most scientists found new species or, at least, species not previously believed to exist in the Arctic.
Despite the region's inhospitable climate for humans, the northern ocean is home to many life forms, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, unicellular plants and animals and metazoa.
From the shelter of the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy, teams of scientists explored the ice surface, beneath it and the ocean floor.
They ventured as far as latitude 76 degrees north in the basin, the deepest part of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Alaska and the Yukon Territory.
The study is part of an international census on marine life, and funding for a similar study of Antartica was announced on Friday.
With the aid of a remote-operated underwater vehicle, a photo platform lowered from the vessel, diving suits and 24-hour sunlight, the team collected samples from places never before seen by the human eye.
Fred Gorell, spokesman for the expedition funded by the U.S. government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the main goal is to raise awareness.
"The oceans are 95 per cent unknown, unseen by human eyes, yet so important to us," he said.
The spectre of global warming makes it urgent to document life in the far North and the Antarctic.
"There's already fairly good indications that we're undergoing some kind of global climate change and the areas that are warming up the fastest are the poles," Hopcroft said from the Healy as the scientists prepared last week to disembark.
Arctic sea ice cover has decreased by about three per cent per decade over the last 25 years, and there are indications ice thickness has decreased all over the Arctic.
Yet scientists know relatively little about the regions, he said. As the changes continue, it will be important to have a benchmark to measure them against.
The race is on to document the polar caps, said Ian MacDonald, a professor at Texas A&M University.
"The scientific consensus is that the end of continuous ice in the summer months is within the human horizon - 50 years, 70 years, 30 years," he said.
"In recorded history, we've never had that, so this is a new era. It will have enormous consequences."
Among the rare finds for scientists were observations of comb jellies, or ctenophores, a jellyfish-like creature so fragile some pour like liquid out of collection jars.
The expedition also had the first close look at mysterious pock marks that mar the ocean floor in the northern reaches of the basin.
Approximately four kilometres below the ocean surface there are as many as two dozen depressions, some up to 40 metres deep and a kilometre across.
"That was very exciting," MacDonald said in an interview via satellite telephone from the ship.
Most surprising was the amount of sea life that call the depressions home. MacDonald counted 72 sea cucumbers in an area of three square metres.
"The abundance and diversity on the sea floor was the highest we've ever seen, anywhere," he said. "We're very excited about that but we don't, at this point, have any clue as to why."
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