Chapter 611: Shipwreck Salvage is a Great Problem
The screen in the live broadcast room showed real-time footage from the ROV. It had to be said that this vessel was indeed far more advanced than Xiao Peng's "Calypsope"! Xiao Peng's ship simply couldn't do this. After all, signal loss in underwater acoustic communication was perfectly normal. Chen Zetao's statement that this vessel represented the highest level of Chinese technology was undeniable!
In the live broadcast room, one can hear Xiao Peng talking to someone, who sounds like the ROV operator on the ship.
"Commander Xiao, we've already investigated this area," the ROV operator said. "There's no sign of a shipwreck! Commander Ma told us to abandon this area long ago!"
Xiao Peng chuckled and said, "You abandoned this area and parked the ship here? You still don't admit it and want to embarrass me?"
"...Um, Commander Xiao, that's not what we meant. The captain said we should stop here because these are the coordinates you gave us. You said they were precise markers, didn't you? So we stopped here to make it easier for you to find the sunken ship."
Xiao Peng said, "Alright, stop explaining! I just want to ask you one question: are you sure it was Commander Ma who told you to abandon this area?"
"yes!"
Xiao Peng sneered, "A corrupt soldier brings a corrupt general to the pack! Let me ask you, where is the marine geology expert on your ship?"
"Huh?" the ROV operator was stunned. "We don't have any marine geology experts on board!"
Now it was Xiao Peng's turn to be stunned. "You don't have any marine geology experts? Brother Chen, what do you mean?"
There was a marine biologist Hu Guohui and a marine geologist Xu Xingde on his ship, but there were none on this "national" ship?
Chen Zetao quickly turned off the sound and said to Xiao Peng, "Brother Xiao, you have marine biologists and marine geologists on board because you're a private company, which makes things easier. This 'Nun' is too conspicuous to arrange for experts to come aboard."
Xiao Peng sighed and said, "I told you not to listen to me and insisted on finding such a large ship. Now you are dumbfounded, right?"
Chen Zetao was also helpless, so he gestured to indicate that the topic should not be discussed anymore and turned off the volume.
Xiao Peng looked at Chen Zetao with disdain, but finally decided to let him go. He turned on the intercom and said to the ROV operator, "If you had a marine geology expert on board, you wouldn't make such a stupid mistake!"
"A low-level mistake?" The ROV driver was puzzled.
Xiao Peng explained, "I told you long ago, what's nearby? The Marsili submarine volcano! The presence of an submarine volcano means there's something here."
"Magma? Volcanic rock?" asked the ROV driver.
Xiao Peng was helpless: "This place is so far away from the crater, how can the magma get here? Do you think all this seawater cooling is for nothing? I'm talking about black chimneys! Black chimneys! Black chimneys! They're also called underwater hot springs!"
The ROV driver argued, “But there are no black chimneys here!”
Xiao Peng covered his face with his hands. "Just because there are no black chimneys here now doesn't mean they didn't exist before! Haven't you noticed that this seabed is different from other seabeds? Haven't you noticed that there are no traces of life here?"
"It's not surprising that there are no living creatures in such a deep sea!" said the ROV driver.
Xiao Peng continued to explain, "What about the color of the sea sand? Have you ever seen such a dark seabed?"
"Is there anything wrong with that?"
Xiao Peng sighed and said, "Do you really think that sunken ships are just lying around and can be salvaged with just the right tools? Haven't you read Marine Science, the core journal of the Institute of Oceanography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences? Xu Xingde published a paper there last November! If you haven't read Marine Science, it doesn't matter. That paper has been included in the databases of the American Chemical Abstracts, the British Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, and the United Nations' Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts! You should have read it, right? They're all core academic journals!"
The ROV pilot was silent.
Xiao Peng thought for a moment and explained, "Marine salvage isn't just marine engineering work. You need to understand history, geology, relevant laws and regulations, marine biology, hydrology... Let me explain. These 'black smokers' aren't just a meter-high protrusion emitting hot air as you might imagine. Some black smokers can be dozens or even taller. And they're not just isolated chimneys on the seabed. Large-scale black smoker clusters can number in the dozens, even hundreds or even thousands! These sulfide-containing 'black smokers' aren't very solid. If the earth's crust shifts, they'll collapse. If the chimney openings aren't blocked, new ones will slowly form. But if they are blocked... you'll be left with a dead sea, just like what you see."
"Oh, I understand!" asked the ROV driver, "But what does this mean?"
Xiao Peng took a deep breath and picked up the intercom: "Use the crane to lower the hydraulic hook directly! Go to the seabed and follow my instructions!"
"But we didn't find the target!" said the crane driver.
"This isn't our ship!" Xiao Peng muttered. "You let it go just because I told you to! You call yourselves marine engineering experts, but do you understand the seabed? Even a marine geologist on board would have spotted something wrong!"
At this time, there were all kinds of curious speculations on the barrage about what went wrong, but Xiao Peng didn't even look at the barrage.
At this time, He Xiao spoke up: "Mr. Xiao, someone said that according to the footage, the sulfide sediments on the seabed are bifurcated in a 'V' shape, which does not match the direction of the seabed currents. There should be a shipwreck in that area. And judging by the floating state of the sediments, it should have been covered for a short time, so it will be easy to find! He asked if what he said was correct!"
"Ask him what he does!" Xiao Peng said.
"He said he was a tour guide for a travel company and his personal interest was learning about the ocean," said He Xiao.
Xiao Peng said, "Ask for his address and tell him I have a gift for him. Don't you feel embarrassed? He can spot the problem out of personal interest, but you didn't? See that V-shaped sulfide bifurcation? I've marked the red cross on the virtual screen at this location. When the hydraulic hook is in place, use the ROV to operate the hydraulic hook and smash it directly! Quickly get everything out and let's go home!"
"Is it that simple?" He Xiao was a little confused.
"What else?" Xiao Peng asked in return. "I won't say anything about the rest of the work. You guys have to prove for yourselves whether the people on board are worthless or not. Did the ROV operator hear me? I'm telling you, this is a wooden ship. The main cargo on board... should be pottery jars like olive oil or wine. Those things are not valuable, but there are also a large number of artifacts, mainly silver and tin. If the artifacts you salvage can be kept intact, I guarantee that the museums of all the eastern Mediterranean countries will rush to buy them and the price will be very high. But the prerequisite is that they are complete. Otherwise, the silver and tin will only be dissolved. How to salvage them is up to you. Kasim, let's go!"
Chen Zetao asked in confusion: "Leave? Where are you going?"
"go home!"
"ah?"
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