Yesterday saw the first two dives and two records added to the Guinness book, the first Japanese woman to dive that deep and the deepest ever book signing! That makes 5 world record holders on one ship at the same time. I wonder if that in itself is a record…

The Mir’s are launched within 30 minutes of each other. They are lowered over the side of the ship by a huge crane. The whole ship seems to tilt with the 8 ton craft dangling over, and rapidly corrects when the Mir is released. It takes the Mir between 2 and 3 hours to reach Titanic, travelling at around 100ft a minute. If there are any problems on board the submersible it is designed to jettison various parts including the propeller and battery packs in order to get to the surface more quickly. It is estimated that in an emergency the submersibles are capable of travelling 40ft per second.

Nothing can describe the process of the Mir retrieval. As one of the crew members put it “It’s the spectators sport for kings”. The site of Mir 1 and 2 being brought back onto the ship is truly awesome. As they pop up to the surface this tremendous glow emanates through the dark ocean from their powerful lights. The crew all work in perfect unison to bring the Mir’s safely back on board. Probably the most amazing sight of the whole process is when the “cowboy” springs into action. It’s the cowboy’s job to disengage or engage the crane that’s connected to the Mir. This involves him going out to the Mir in a small powerboat and jumping on the Mir’s roof. In the rough seas of the Atlantic Ocean the Mir moves around like a bucking bronco, hence the man doing this dangerous job is known as a cowboy. Once the Mir’s are back on board the hangars close around them and before you know it they are being stripped down and checked ready for the following days dive. As the Mir runs on battery packs it takes them a good 12 hours to recharge. All of the electrical cabling is enclosed in pipes filled with oil to prevent them from being crushed by the high pressure. If one were to fail it could have disastrous consequences. There is a huge buzz on board ship when the Mir 1 and 2 return, and one hell of an adrenalin rush!

At the moment the two submersibles are heading for the wreck of Titanic. Dive 3 is tomorrow (Tuesday 12th) at 9am (12:30pm GMT). This is the dive I will be on….