What is an ROV? Deep-sea tech used in Titanic submarine search

While ROVs vary in design and capability, they can generally travel much deeper than manned vessels, Englot said. "Those kind of vehicles usually have robotic arms that are capable of carrying a payload, grasping an object, grabbing and turning a knob or a valve or something like that," he added. As of Thursday morning, several with the ability to reach the ocean floor had been deployed in the Atlantic as the Titan's estimated initial supply of 96 hours of oxygen dwindled – including the Victor 6000, which descended from the French L'Atalante research vessel to the ocean floor. File image of an asset of the rescue efforts – the Victor 6000 – an unmanned French robot which can dive up to 6,000 metres. It has arms that can be remotely controlled to cut cables or otherwise help release a stuck vessel. However, it does not have the capability of lifting the submersible on its own.