The 23-foot-long vessel, capable of diving to depths of 1,600 feet, was last heard from during the weekend of January 27.
Named Ran, the vessel is owned by the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and has been instrumental in gathering important data about the enormous glacier, which holds significant implications for climate change.
According to the university, Ran was on an expedition under the Thwaites Glacier, also known as the "Doomsday Glacier," when it went missing.
Professor Anna Wåhlin, the project leader, stated, "During January of this year, Ran completed several successful dives under Thwaites, but during the last planned dive of the expedition, something went wrong. After a long journey under the ice, the AUV [unmanned underwater vehicle] did not appear at the programmed rendezvous point."
Efforts to locate the vessel using acoustic search equipment, helicopters, and drones were unsuccessful. Eventually, it was concluded that Ran had been lost.
The vessel, valued at approximately $3.6 million (38 million Swedish Krona), was making its second visit to the Thwaites Glacier. Its previous missions had provided crucial data about the glacier's behavior and its impact on climate change.
"Thanks to Ran, we became the first researchers in the world to enter Thwaites in 2019, and during the current expedition, we have revisited the same area," said Wåhlin. "Even though satellite data show melting and movements in the ice, Ran provides close-up images of the underside of the ice and information about the exact mechanisms causing the melting."
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