Remaining Titan Submersible Debris Salvaged
Phoenix International Holdings, under the direction of the U.S. Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), have recovered the remaining debris of the Titan submersible from the North Atlantic seafloor near the RMS Titanic shipwreck.
Work was performed using Phoenix’s Remora remotely operated vehicle (ROV). This 20,000 ft rated vehicle, designed and built by Phoenix, was used to map, locate, and recover Titan submersible debris at a depth of 12,500 feet. This was a follow-on mission to the initial SUPSALV and Phoenix undersea operation conducted in the immediate aftermath of the loss of the submersible, during which some debris was recovered.
All work performed by SUPSALV and Phoenix was conducted on behalf of the US Coast Guard’s Marine Investigation Board as part of their investigation into the loss of Titan. Authorities from the U.S., Canada and France are currently combing through evidence recovered from the Titan submersible that suffered a catastrophic implosion en route to the wreckage of the Titanic in June.
Phoenix’s Remora ROV, a 40 horsepower vehicle with modern cameras, sensors, and telemetry systems, and two seven-function manipulators offers small physical size coupled with its depth capability. Remora has axial and lateral thrusters, permitting precisely controlled maneuvers in the tightest of spaces while minimizing the probability of entrapment or entanglement.
The compact design and small footprint of Remora allows the system to be easily transported anywhere in the world, by air or sea, and quickly mobilized aboard vessels of opportunity to provide cost effective support for a wide range of extremely deep underwater tasks.