PERTH: With the focused underwater search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 already 80 per cent completed, the public, what more the next-of-kin of the ill-fated aircraft passengers and crew, are waiting with bated breath on the next move in the ongoing search operation in the southern Indian Ocean.
Should the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) codenamed Bluefin-21 resume its mission, or will it be replaced by another hardware, since no contact of interest had been found?
However, as the search operation entered its 47th yesterday, there has been no announcement on the next course of action.
In a special interview with Bernama and the Malaysian media here, chief excutive officer of the Total Marine Technology (TMT), Paul Colley gave a glimpse of what TMT’s Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) codenamed Typhoon could offer to the search operation.
TMT, maker of various types of ROV based in Australia is a subsidiary to a Malaysian-owned company, Sapura Kencana Petroleum Well Services.
Colley, who is also TMT founder, pointed out that having to search for the aircraft underwater was really difficult, and would be like looking for a needle in a haystack in a different planet, as the underwater was a strange place for humans.
“It’s not because we got the wrong people or the wrong equipment, it’s just that its 4,500 metres depth, technology is at its limit,” he said.
Different from the Bluefin-21, Typhoon, a working class ROV has a range of manipulators, sensors, sonar, lights and 16 cameras that can transmit realtime information to the cable attached straight to the vessel.
“It uses fibre optic cable, so the video recorded could be accessed straight away by the operators on the vessel,” said Colley, adding that the company had about 150 ROV operators and about half of them were capable of handling Typhoon.
Another strength of the Typhoon was that it can submerge up to four weeks without resurfacing, as compared to the Bluefin-21 which needs to resurface every 24-hour cycle. — Bernama