WHOI Investigates Lost Submersible

WOODS HOLE – An investigation is underway

On the HADES cruise, Nereus brought back to the surface specimens of animals previously unknown to science and seafloor sediment destined to help reveal the physical, chemical, and biological processes that shape the deep-ocean ecosystem and that make ocean trenches unlike almost any other part of the planet. (Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

On the HADES cruise, Nereus brought back to the surface specimens of animals previously unknown to science and seafloor sediment destined to help reveal the physical, chemical, and biological processes that shape the deep-ocean ecosystem and that make ocean trenches unlike almost any other part of the planet. (Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution into the loss of their submersible Nereus.

An external group of experts are assisting with the review, which should be completed by the end of June.

The robot imploded a week and a half ago while on a six-plus mile dive in the Kermadec Trench.

Andy Bowen, a principal engineer at WHOI, said the loss of the vehicle has been difficult for the engineers who built it. He said, the conditions the deep-sea robot faced certainly led to its eventual destruction.

Engineers at WHOI have been building a new deep-sea submersible, they expect to start testing it in 2015 and to launch it in 2016.



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