Chapter 143 Rent it back and use it?

Xiao Peng said, "The Pescara sank at a depth of 812 meters on the seabed. Here are the coordinates. But I have good news and bad news for you. Which one do you want to hear?"

Pascal asked, "Isn't it good news that we found the sunken ship? Is there even better news?"

Fabian said, "Xiao, let's tell you the bad news first. Let me be prepared."

Xiao Peng said, "The bad news is: the Pescara sank on a hot spring. The snail I gave Cathy was found there."

"Hot spring?" Pascal frowned.

Fabian also frowned. "The temperature of the hot spring is too high, and the geology near the hot spring is unstable. The risk of salvaging is too great. Xiao, this is not just bad news. Is there good news under such circumstances?"

Xiao Peng nodded and said, "The Pescara isn't a very large ship, with a carrying capacity of probably less than 300 tons. There's a large hole blown in the side of the ship. If there's anything inside, it would be easy to find—assuming there's something inside."

Fabian thought for a moment and said, "We need a high-temperature resistant deep-sea exploration robot. The equipment on the Dragon Boat is simply not enough. We need to seek cooperation with the French Institute for Exploitation of the Sea or relevant universities for such equipment."

Xiao Peng frowned slightly after hearing this. "Going to the French Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea to seek cooperation? That's hardly a brilliant idea. Fabian, do you mean we should go to the Toulon center and knock on their door and tell them we've found a sunken ship and need them to lend us a high-temperature deep-sea exploration robot for salvage? Then why don't we just ask them to borrow the Nautilus?"

It has to be admitted that France is ahead of the curve in many areas. For example, among the world's top marine research institutions, the French Institute for Oceanography is definitely among the top three.

Of course, the first place must be the United States. In 1960, they threw two divers into the Mariana Trench.

The French Ocean Research Institute (IFRE) was formed by the merger of the French National Center for Exploitation of the Sea and the Nantes Institute of Science and Technology for Fisheries and Sea in 1986, bringing together the best marine talent and technical equipment in France. They now have five research centers, with the Toulon center in the Mediterranean being the closest.

And one of the world's most famous submersibles, the Nautilus, is currently docked there.

When the Chinese Jiaolong submersible reached over 7,000 meters, many people were unimpressed. They didn't understand what it meant and thought it was something that could be done easily.

In fact, there are only five countries on this planet that possess manned submersibles, and China, excluding China, has only 13 manned submersibles. And only the United States and China can dive beyond seven thousand meters.

In fact, although the United States' "Trieste" dived to 11,000 meters, it was unable to carry out operations and scientific research underwater. The other ship, the "Alvin", could theoretically dive to a depth of 8,000 meters but rarely reached that depth. It usually operated at a depth of 4,500 meters.

However, the manned submersibles of these two countries are undoubtedly the world's first-tier!

The second tier is Japan, Russia and France.

In fact, the United States, Russia, Japan and France have always monopolized deep-sea diving technology. The emergence of the "Jiaolong" not only broke the monopoly of these four countries, but also directly became the most advanced deep-sea submersible. It is nothing short of a miracle.

If Xiao Peng had the choice, he would certainly want the Jiaolong, but that was impossible. In fact, he couldn't even borrow the French Nautilus; they were both "national treasures." Using them for private salvage operations? What a joke!

Fabian snapped his fingers after hearing this and said, "Xiao, you're a genius! We can rent the Nautilus!"

"Puff!" Xiao Peng almost spit out his words, "What did you say? Rent the Nautilus?"

"Of course!" Fabian said. "I'm friends with Professor Paradis of the Sorbonne. Last time, she told me about renting the Nautilus, but the cost is a bit high—€850,000 a week!"

"Eight hundred and fifty thousand euros?" Xiao Peng was stunned.

Damn, the national conditions are different. In China, if a private individual wants to rent the 'Jiaolong', it is absolutely a pipe dream, but renting the 'Nautilus' in France?

That’s not really a problem: as long as you have money.

Fabian nodded and said, "After all, we still have to include the cost of using the mother ship and the crew fees. This cost can't be any cheaper."

Xiao Peng could understand what he said.

The reason why deep-sea submersibles are difficult to make is that in addition to the technical difficulties, the high cost of use is also a very serious problem. Basically, the various miscellaneous expenses for each dive are close to 100,000 euros.

Xiao Peng scratched his head. "How much is all that rhodium? A small 300-ton cargo ship could complete the search in less than two days, right? Eight hundred and fifty thousand euros a week is still considered expensive? I remember the Nautilus's underwater working time was sixteen hours, right? So four dives a week would be pretty good. Damn it, just listening to you makes me want to buy a Nautilus. Isn't the profit too high?"

Fabian thought for a moment and said, "It seems that what you said makes sense. However, I think it might be a bit difficult for you to buy the Nautilus. It costs over 800 million US dollars. Are you sure you want to buy it?"

Xiao Peng raised his middle finger and said, "Damn it! Our Jiaolong costs less than one-tenth of your Nautilus! But... well, we can't even afford one-tenth of it."

Fabian said, "We can't afford a manned submersible, but you could consider buying a submersible robot from the ECA Group."

"ECA Group?" Xiao Peng frowned slightly. "If I remember correctly, ECA seems to be the largest military-industrial enterprise in France, right? They also produce this?"

"As long as they can make money, they'll produce everything," Fabian said. "Warships, submarines, underwater robots, airplanes, artillery, missiles..."

"Are these equipments sold to private individuals?" Xiao Peng blinked.

Fabian smiled and said, "As long as you can afford it, buying a destroyer is no problem. But to be honest, these things are not cheap."

After hearing this, Xiao Peng said helplessly, "Now I understand what you meant when you said deep-sea salvage is difficult. The investment is simply too huge. I'm missing our country's domestically produced products; they're of high quality and affordable. Forget about that, let's first think about how to salvage this ship! 80 million worth of rhodium is waiting for us to pull out! Fabian, contact a place that can rent high-temperature-resistant underwater robots! You're responsible for solving this problem!"

Pascal asked curiously, "What about me?"

Xiao Peng said, "Xiao Pa, you have something more important to do. Help me figure out what's going on with this box!"

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The author has something to say:

A relative of Lao Yang's passed away. I visited her a dozen days ago and she seemed well, but she was suddenly rushed to the hospital and passed away. I can only lament the impermanence of life and death. I can only wish all Lao Yang's readers good health.