RV Le Suroît

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Le Suroît docked in Concarneau in 2007
History
France
NameRV Le Suroît
OwnerIFREMER
OperatorGenavir[2]
BuilderAteliers et Chantiers de la Manche,
Dieppe[1]
Launched20 July 1974
Refit1999
HomeportBrest[1]
Identification
StatusActive in service
General characteristics [3]
TypeResearch vessel
Tonnage946 GT
Displacement1,132 long tons
Length56.34 m (184.8 ft)
Beam11 m (36 ft)
Draught4.10 m (13.5 ft)
Installed power
  • 2 × 600 hp (450 kW)
  • 1 × 210 hp (160 kW)
Speed10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Capacity
  • 14 (without accommodation container)
  • 17 (with accommodation container)
Crew16–23

RV Le Suroît is a French

wreck of the RMS Titanic.[4][5]

Since being refurbished in 1999, the vessel is able to undertake

bathymetric and seismic research, as well as coring, dredging, and trawling tasks.[3]

History

Le Suroît

The vessel was commissioned and built in 1975 by Ateliers et Chantiers de

RMS Titanic.[4] Aboard Le Suroît on this mission was Robert Ballard. Le Suroît was able to rule out large sections of a pre-determined 150-square-mile (390 km2) search area – between 26 July and 6 August, 80% of the area had been searched.[8] It later transpired that on one of its first passes, Le Suroît had come within only 3,300 feet (1,000 m) of Titanic.[9] The mission ended on 6 August,[5] after which RV Knorr travelled from the Azores to concentrate on more specific areas using different strategies.[4]

In October 2011, the vessel was on assignment in Crete[10] before travelling to La Seyne-sur-Mer in December.[1]

Facilities and equipment

The vessel is equipped with a range of devices. The computers run IFREMER's CARAIBES mapping software.

cruising speed, and the speed at which surveying is undertaken, is approximately 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c "LE SUROIT - IMO 7360368". ShipSpotting. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "Vessel Data and Contact Information". College of Marine Studies, University of Delaware. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "RV Le Suroît". Ocean Facilities Exchange Group. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  4. ^ a b c "1985 Discovery of Titanic". Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  5. ^ a b Alfred, Randy (2 September 2008). "Sept. 2, 1985: Hey, Everyone, We Found the Titanic". Wired. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  6. ^ Trillo, Robert L (1978). Jane's ocean technology. Jane's Yearbooks. p. 250.
  7. ^ "Discovery of Titanic". Titanic-Titanic. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  8. .
  9. .
  10. ^ "Oceanographic research ship Le Suroit (France)". Sailwx. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  11. ^ "Specifications". IFREMER Fleet. IFREMER. Retrieved 5 March 2012.