Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Update on the Restoration of Jacques Cousteau's Calypso

To update on the restoration of Jacques Cousteau's ship, Calypso, I found some information on Wikipedia:

"Restoration work on the Calypso stopped in February 2009 due to non-payment of bills by Francine Cousteau. Piriou Naval Services of Concarneau are owed €850,000, of the estimated total €1,737,000, for work already done on the ship. The ship is now stored in one of the ship builder's hangars.

"As of March 2009, the Cousteau Society reports that Francine Cousteau is now directing the restoration of Calypso—-which has been brought to the Piriou shipyards in Brittany—-as an "ambassador for the seas and oceans." The restoration will be a complete refurbishment making Calypso a self-powered mobile "ambassador."

"In June 2010, the BBC reported that the Calypso was to be relaunched to mark the centenary of Jacques Cousteau's birth. According to one of the ship's former crew who visited the shipyard, the vessel was still being stored in several pieces in the same hangar as of 11 June 2010--the official date of the centenary--and is unlikely to sail any time soon."

Looks as though the Calypso may never be restored unless someone gets a better grip on the project.

New Technology for Deep Sea Subs

New technology is being developed to explore the deepest parts of the ocean. The Trieste bathyscaphe was the last manned sub to reach the depths of 36,000 ft. in the Mariana Trench in 1960. Triton Submarines is planning to go down in their newly designed glass bubble submarine. Read the article here:

Sub will take humans to deepest point of ocean