Nautile

Nautile is a French manned deep-sea research submersible operated by IFREMER, the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea. Built to extend France's capability for direct exploration of the ocean floor, Nautile has supported scientific, archaeological, and industrial investigations in oceans around the world since its introduction in the late 1980s.

Design and capabilities: The vehicle is designed for depths of up to about 6,000 meters and carries three crew members: a pilot, a co-pilot, and a scientist or mission specialist. It is deployed from a surface support vessel via a winch and is connected to the ship by an umbilical that provides life support, power, data, and communications. A pressure hull and control cabin protect the occupants during descent and ascent.

Equipment: Nautile is equipped with high-intensity lighting, video and still cameras, environmental sensors, and two hydraulic manipulator arms that enable sampling, deployment of instruments, and interaction with objects on the seafloor. It has viewing windows and on-board data processing and can conduct in-situ measurements.

Operations and missions: Nautile has conducted hundreds of dives across global deep-sea environments, contributing to biology, geology, chemistry, hydrography, and underwater archaeology. It has been used to study hydrothermal vent ecosystems, map seafloor geology, inspect offshore installations, and survey wrecks.

Impact and status: As a long-serving component of France’s ocean research capability, Nautile has undergone upgrades to sensors and manipulator systems and remains in service as of the 2020s, complementing remotely operated vehicles in deep-sea exploration.