MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Germany unveils robot for 6.000 meters sea deep work

The Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences from the University of Kiel unveiled on Monday a new sub aquatic robot, ROV Kiel-6000, Remotely Operated Vehicle which can descend to 6.000 meters below sea level.

The equipment weighing 30 tons and with its state of the art potential will have access to 95% of the entire world's sea beds said Project Director Colin Devey. "For us it's the opening of whole new dimension", said Devey who added that the robot is capable of taking water samples, sediments and rocks from the bottom sea using the two extensible arms with which it has been equipped. The remote controlled ROV Kiel-6000 can record images with its video cameras and transmit all data collected via a fiber glass cable, 6.500 meters long, which will connect it with the mother vessel. Only the "extreme zones" of the sea bed which are up to 11.000 meters deep will remain inaccessible for the Leibniz institute robot, considered the most advanced of its kind. The project involved 3.2 million Euros of which half was supplied by the Kiel University. Peter Herzig director of the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences said ROV Kiel-6000 will be used to advance with carbon dioxide research at the bottom of the sea. Under the motto "CO2 inside, methane outside" the project plans to unveil the sedimentation process which could lead to the solidification of carbon dioxide in contact with methane gas hydrates, which remain at frozen condition below the sea mud. By storing CO2, methane is liberated and could be used as an alternative energy source given the growing descent of proven reserves of fossil fuels added Herzig. ROVKiel-6000 will also help research how biological and mineralogical resources are formed in the sea, which could be of great advance for the medical and pharmaceutical industries, according to the German institute.