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Commercial Dives The idea of commercial-passenger dives on the MIRs came about in 1998 for two reasons. One was that many people worldwide inquired about the possibility of seeing the Titanic wreck in situ, particularly after Cameron's "Titanic" flm. The other had to do with problems fnancing the MIRs operations. The MIR group partnered with Deep Ocean Expeditions LLC (Seattle, Washington) to enable commercial dives, resulting in more than 100 passengers from the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany, England, Japan and other countries diving on the MIRs to the wrecks of the Titanic and the sunken German battleship Bismarck, as well as to hydrothermal vents in the Atlantic and Pacifc oceans. Basin and Land Research From 2008 to 2010, the MIRs were working on Baikal Lake, the deepest lake in the world. The MIRs made 178 dives over three summers, with the maximum dive depth at 1,640 meters. Among the discoveries were wide deposits of hard gas hydrates, areas of benthic gas and oil discharges, and many new animal species. The geological structure of the lake was also studied. This research of Baikal was introduced in Sea Technology's December 2011 issue. In 2011, the MIRs were studying the ecology of Geneva Lake. The MIRs completed 96 dives in the Vidi inlet, the Rona River delta and the central deepest area of the lake. More than 200 sediment and 150 water samples were taken, as well as millions of in-situ measurements using mass spectrometer and other equipment for molecular-level study. Around-the-World Expedition, Upcoming Projects In 1992, the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology RAS developed an around-the-world expedition program to study benthic hydrothermal felds with the MIR-1 and MIR-2. The program includes dives to underwater mounts, abyssal areas and wrecks. The last version of the project was in May 2007 and was scheduled to run for two and a half years, has about 80 research sites. The latest program, which is under fnancial consideration, is scheduled to run for two-and-a-half years with the participation of scientists worldwide and the use of ROVs and other equipment from around the world. An international project with Russian government support to explore hydrothermal felds in the Atlantic is also being considered. A decision should be made in the next few months. Conclusions For 25 years, the MIR submersibles have conducted a wide spectrum of scientifc research and underwater technical operations and have proven their reliability, effectiveness and safety for various deep-ocean operations. Drawing from data obtained by the MIRs, 20 books and more than 1,000 articles have been published, and 14 doctoral dissertations have been defended. The MIRs have made a great contribution not only to Russian science but to the world. n Dr. Anatoly M. Sagalevich is the head of the Deep Manned Submersibles Laboratory at the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Russia. He worked on vehicle design for the MIR-1 and MIR-2 submersibles with Dr. Igor Mikhaltsev and a group of Finnish engineers headed by Sauli Ruohonen. Discover Observe Explore Needlefish Nuclear Still Water Triggerfish Lionfish Port & Harbor Search & Rescue Swordfish Pipeline Military Oil & Gas Geological DOE, INC. 2528 Qume Drive, Ste 11 San Jose, CA 95131 USA Tel: 408-436-1102 Fax: 408-436-1108 www.deepocean.com sales@deepocean.com 48 st / DECEMBER 2012 www.sea-technology.com