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Autonomous vehicle helped locate ‘holy grail of shipwrecks’ off Colombia

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https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/320601935/m/9420080244

May 22, 2018, 10:47 AM
JALLEN
Autonomous vehicle helped locate ‘holy grail of shipwrecks’ off Colombia
An autonomous vehicle was used in 2015 to locate a Spanish galleon that sunk 300 years ago off the coast of Colombia with $17 billion in treasure, the research team that helped in the discovery said on Monday.

The San Jose, which was considered the “holy grail of shipwrecks,” was located with the help of an underwater autonomous vehicle operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The institution said it was holding the discovery under wraps out of respect for the Colombian government.

The treasure—which includes of gold, silver and emeralds-- has been the subject of legal battles between several nations as well as private companies.

Several weeks ago, UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency, called on Colombia not to commercially exploit the wreck, whose exact location remains a state secret. The country hopes to build a museum and preserve the wreck, the Massachusetts-based WHOI said on its website.


The 62-gun, three-masted galleon, went down on June 8, 1708, with 600 people on board during a battle with British ships in the War of Spanish Succession.

WHOI was invited to join the search because of its recognized expertise in deep water exploration. The institute's autonomous underwater vehicle, REMUS 6000, helped find the wreckage of Air France 447 in 2011, which crashed in 2009 several hundred miles off the coast of Brazil.

It was REMUS 6000 that in Nov. 27, 2015, took some side sonar images that found the San Jose in more than 2,000 feet of water. The vehicle descended to 30 feet above the wreck to take several photographs, including some of the distinctive dolphin engravings on the San Jose's cannons, a key piece of visual evidence.

"The wreck was partially sediment-covered, but with the camera images from the lower altitude missions, we were able to see new details in the wreckage and the resolution was good enough to make out the decorative carving on the cannons," said WHOI engineer and expedition leader Mike Purcell.

Link




Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
May 22, 2018, 10:51 AM
Yanert98
I don't know how they can justify leaving 17B on the bottom.

That's not pocket change for anyone.


----------------------------------
"If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.." - Thomas Sowell
May 22, 2018, 11:28 AM
PeteF
I program the software for the Remus 6000's navigation unit. Do I get a cut?
May 22, 2018, 12:13 PM
jbcummings
quote:
Originally posted by PeteF:
I program the software for the Remus 6000's navigation unit. Do I get a cut?


Nice try... Big Grin
You do probably get to continue doing your job though.


———-
Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for thou art crunchy and taste good with catsup.
May 22, 2018, 12:48 PM
Rey HRH
quote:
Originally posted by Yanert98:
I don't know how they can justify leaving 17B on the bottom.

That's not pocket change for anyone.


It's a third world nation. You can bet your ass they will "preserve" the 17B on the bottom.

"The 17B senor? Si, it is still in the bottom down there. I would invite you to dive down and see it for yourself but it is a national treasure and we're not letting anyone near it."



"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
May 22, 2018, 12:51 PM
PeteF
quote:
Originally posted by jbcummings:
quote:
Originally posted by PeteF:
I program the software for the Remus 6000's navigation unit. Do I get a cut?


Nice try... Big Grin
You do probably get to continue doing your job though.


I was willing to settle for .05% of .05%.

PS: Got the same response from my boss Smile
May 22, 2018, 01:00 PM
zoom6zoom
Claimed by Spain in 3, 2, 1...




I have my own style of humor. I call it Snarkasm.
May 22, 2018, 01:04 PM
JALLEN
quote:
Originally posted by zoom6zoom:
Claimed by Spain in 3, 2, 1...


Interesting possibility.

I have read about how the Spanish mining in South America, of untold tons of gold and silver hauled to Spain was not only not a boon but actually was a factor in its relative poverty from then to the present.




Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
May 22, 2018, 01:32 PM
bigeinkcmo
quote:
Originally posted by jbcummings:
quote:
Originally posted by PeteF:
I program the software for the Remus 6000's navigation unit. Do I get a cut?


Nice try... Big Grin
You do probably get to continue doing your job though.


Might make for a plot for Mission Impossible: Dead Man's Chest. Remus 6000 programmer goes rogue. Builds backdoor allowing him to identify the exact location without anyone knowing. Hires a secret team to recover and ends up battling MI6 or IMF. Throw in a little underwater 007-style fight. Lots of speed boats and pretty ladies in swimming suits. Boom! Lol.
May 22, 2018, 02:15 PM
ChuckWall
Talk about your unfortunate boating accident...


*************
MAGA
May 22, 2018, 02:26 PM
BBMW
No way anyone but maybe the USN could get that gold off the ocean floor at 2000' without everyone knowing.

quote:
Originally posted by Rey HRH:
quote:
Originally posted by Yanert98:
I don't know how they can justify leaving 17B on the bottom.

That's not pocket change for anyone.


It's a third world nation. You can bet your ass they will "preserve" the 17B on the bottom.

"The 17B senor? Si, it is still in the bottom down there. I would invite you to dive down and see it for yourself but it is a national treasure and we're not letting anyone near it."

May 22, 2018, 02:28 PM
PeteF
quote:
Originally posted by bigeinkcmo:
quote:
Originally posted by jbcummings:
quote:
Originally posted by PeteF:
I program the software for the Remus 6000's navigation unit. Do I get a cut?


Nice try... Big Grin
You do probably get to continue doing your job though.


Might make for a plot for Mission Impossible: Dead Man's Chest. Remus 6000 programmer goes rogue. Builds backdoor allowing him to identify the exact location without anyone knowing. Hires a secret team to recover and ends up battling MI6 or IMF. Throw in a little underwater 007-style fight. Lots of speed boats and pretty ladies in swimming suits. Boom! Lol.


Well customers do sometimes send data back for eval. Maybe I need to look a little closer.
I'm in for the bikini models, but definitely too old for fights Smile
May 22, 2018, 06:03 PM
Graniteguy
Surprising that modern day thieves/pirates don't find ways to recover/steal these types of booties. (Yes, I know - they would require advanced equipment and deep water diving skills)
May 22, 2018, 09:14 PM
Chris42
The community that can effectively work at that depth is very small. Everybody knows everybody. If you started gearing up for such a project word of the equipment purchases and movement would get out and the cat would be out of the bag...

Very good read - Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea. Written by Kidder(?) about Tommy Thompson
May 22, 2018, 09:18 PM
Deqlyn
quote:
Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Surprising that modern day thieves/pirates don't find ways to recover/steal these types of booties. (Yes, I know - they would require advanced equipment and deep water diving skills)


Nah just expensive drones.



What man is a man that does not make the world better. -Balian of Ibelin

Only boring people get bored. - Ruth Burke
May 22, 2018, 09:58 PM
cjevans
quote:
Originally posted by bigeinkcmo:

Might make for a plot for Mission Impossible: Dead Man's Chest. Remus 6000 programmer goes rogue. Builds backdoor allowing him to identify the exact location without anyone knowing. Hires a secret team to recover and ends up battling MI6 or IMF. Throw in a little underwater 007-style fight. Lots of speed boats and pretty ladies in swimming suits. Boom! Lol.


Kind of like ... "The Deep" reboot (original with Notle, Bisset, Shaw) ...



We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid." ~ Benjamin Franklin.

"If anyone in this country doesn't minimise their tax, they want their head read, because as a government, you are not spending it that well, that we should be donating extra...:
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May 23, 2018, 04:16 AM
David Lee
It is unique to think anyone could have 17 billion back 300 years. Load that on a ship and have a sea battle. I hope it gets recovered and we get to see the treasure.
May 23, 2018, 05:19 AM
r0gue
quote:
Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Surprising that modern day thieves/pirates don't find ways to recover/steal these types of booties. (Yes, I know - they would require advanced equipment and deep water diving skills)


That's a lot of work. It's easier to sit at the computer screen and shake down a hospital for a half million dollars to decrypt the medical records of sick people.




May 23, 2018, 08:44 AM
bigeinkcmo
quote:
Originally posted by cjevans:

Kind of like ... "The Deep" reboot (original with Notle, Bisset, Shaw) ...


I've heard of The Deep but never saw it. May have to check that out! Thanks.
May 23, 2018, 09:04 AM
Vanwall
Maybe a job for the CIA. They did a pretty good job on the Russian submarine K129.

There is a good book on covering the CIA project.

https://www.npr.org/2017/09/16...-off-the-ocean-floor