The expert told how the crew of the missing deep-sea vehicle in the Atlantic will be able to survive

The search continues for the missing submersible in the North Atlantic, which plunged to the wreckage of the Titanic. About how its internal compartment is arranged, how oxygen is consumed, about a radio search beacon, and also why a technical descent is needed, we talked with the Hero of Russia, the commander of the Mir-2 deep-sea submersible of the laboratory for the scientific operation of deep-sea manned vehicles of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology Evgeny Chernyaev.

“I knew that they were supposed to dive on the night of June 18,” says Evgeny Chernyaev. “My friends from Canada told me about it. But for some reason, even the number of crew members, not to mention its composition, was stubbornly hidden there. When we dived, we always took photographs before descending, each member of the crew signed. And here they stubbornly avoided publicity. Earlier it was reported that the underwater vehicle of the American company OceanGate Expedition can accommodate 5 crew members, but it is very crowded there. According to my data, the length of the apparatus is 6.5 meters, the width is 2.5 meters. There is a sphere, the compartment itself – no more than we have on the Mirs. Everything is very tight. The place, in my opinion, there is only for four.

Evgeny Chernyaev explains that their apparatus is lowered into the water from a towed platform.

– With such a towing device, we carried out a technical, trial descent before each descent. Because after such a vibration, when the device is towed through the waves, some failures may occur. It happened that after being transported by plane or trailers on the shore, everything was fine, and smoke suddenly began to go under the water, because somewhere something had dropped from vibration. Therefore, we did a technical descent, corrected everything, and then proceeded to scientific work.

The commander of the Mir-2 deep-sea submersible, Yevgeny Chernyaev, clarifies that the deep-sea submersible of the American company OceanGate Expedition has an oxygen supply for 96 hours, for four days.

– We had a supply of oxygen for 72 hours, for three days. But it all depends on how you breathe. If a person sleeps, he consumes much less oxygen. If he starts to move or even get nervous, he consumes more oxygen. The same applies to eating, because it is also an active activity. I myself have watched more than once how we start to have a snack, so immediately oxygen begins to “fall”, you have to add it, and significantly. As they ate – that’s it, then you can reduce the oxygen supply.

The expert believes that since one of the crew members managed to use satellite communications, leave a note on his page on the social network, then the deep-sea vehicle is somewhere far away.

– If they managed to surface, and they are on the surface of the water, they must have a radio station. The underwater vehicle does not rise above the surface of the water, the wave also interferes there, therefore the radio station usually does not work for a long range. It’s good that they can get in touch by satellite and expect to be found. They must have a radio search beacon. Do not confuse it with an emergency beacon, which is released on a cable, it pops up even if the device is at the bottom. And gives a signal, indicating the location of the device.

If the deep-sea vehicle is on the surface, then, as the expert says, the radio search beacon is already involved.

I think they have it too. For example, we never dived without this on the Mirs. We always had a flashing beacon with us in case of darkness, and a radio search beacon.

– If the device is now on the surface, the crew members cannot get out on their own, can they?

– They can’t, of course. They are simply overwhelmed with water and the apparatus will sink.

– What are the chances that the crew members of the lost deep-sea submersible will be rescued?

– Big enough. There is technology in the world. I hope that everything necessary is now involved. If they’re on the surface, and they’ve got radio beacons, they should be found. They can even be searched for from space now.

— And where are our famous deep-sea submersibles Mir-1 and Mir-2?

“Unfortunately, the Mirs were “buried” in our country, moreover, in full working order. One device is now in a museum in Kaliningrad, the second one is in a hangar. To whom and where I just did not write letters. Everything is useless. The deep-sea submersibles are intact, they could be launched, handed over to the youth. But that doesn’t happen. If the “Worlds” were on the move, we could help in the search. We’ve always worked in pairs. One device helped another.