1. BIODEEP MEETING (Venice, October 13-15 2003)

2. Problems experienced during 2001 cruise Unreliable performance in high pressure (>2500 mwd) of SCIPACK/SCISKID umbilical cable  some deployments aborted Failure of MODUS thrusters  detailed surveys made with extreme difficulty Failure to some components  STAND-BY Insufficient quality of the video documentation system  bad images taken

3. Remedial actions New SCIPACK/SCISKID umbilical cables manufactured and tested 3 lengths now available: 10, 25 and 200 m

4. Remedial actions All failed components repaired and/or replaced SCIPACK TV camera SCIPACK altimeter

5. Thrusters The electronics of all thrusters have been updated by the manufacturer Tecnadyne and became more reliable. The entire MODUS system has been tested before conducting the SN-1 observatory recovery in May 2003 successfully. Nevertheless 2 thrusters showed problems during the GNDT recovery, without harming the mission. For BIODEEP cruise the configuration shall be: 2 thruster mounted on MODUS 2 thruster available as spare For the BIODEEP mission we don’t see a risk, as a wide range of operation is not necessary.

6. Comparison between ‘old’ and improved Video-System Component2001 cruiseImprovements CamerasNeeded: 4 at MODUS available 4: 2x col, 2x b/w Needed: 4 at MODUS available 6: - 3x b/w (incl. 1x Hi-Res), - 3x col (incl 1x Zoom) Control-Racks1x Video (=2 Monitors), 1x Steering, 1x Sonar 2x Video (=4 Monitors), 1x Steering, 1x Sonar Video-LineOne VGA signal in-line for two Monitors One VGA signal splitted for four Monitors=better quality images Video-RecordingTwo Recorder for two Monitors Four Recorder for four Monitors

7. left: 2001 cruise equipment for MODUS steering and control units right: new configuration with additional second 19” Video-System rack Video documentation system

8. New Zoom-Camera from DeepSea-Power&Light: Super SeaCam 6000, 12xZoom, autofocus Comparison between ‘old’ and improved Video-System

9. Configurations for 2003 cruise 200 m sw/brine interface body brines + HP5l survey 10 m 15 m

10. System upgrades more sensors  transmissometer added to SCIPACK CTD. Integration of other sensors possible (CH 4, pH, Eh, O 2, etc.), depends on budget possibility to explore the second interface of Urania basin  long cable provided sensors at two levels (e.g. at two ends of the Niskin bottles) for a more accurate sampling at the interface  no sensor provided by CONISMA  not implemented Additional TV camera on SCIPACK  no budget for that in BIODEEP Integration of IMBC multicorer  TUB and IMBC to coordinate