Press conference summary: TPL search now ended, and the Bluefin sonar vehicle will be deployed this evening Australian time. The search area has been narrowed to 15.4 miles as determined by ping locations; depth is 4,500 kilometers. That is the max the Bluefin can go; they are consulting with other companies about larger AUVs that can go deeper if it proves necessary. An oil slick very close to ping locations was found, with samples collected for analysis. (Though analysis cant be done until samples are on land, and I dont know if another ship will take them to Perth now.) The Bluefin will scan for 24 hours, but cannot send data to ship; it must be brought back up and placed on the ship before data can be downloaded, and then it must be analyzed. Then theres maintenance, and the Bluefin goes back down again. So it will be close to two days before anything is learned from the scan, even if it finds nothing after the first 24-hour cycle. So not unexpected news, but good details about what happens next. I continue to be very impressed by Angus Houston.
Posted on: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 04:40:26 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015