A barge loaded with equipment used to find the Titanic has sunk off South America.
Robert Ballard said an estimated $20 million in scientific equipment was lost aboard the barge that went down in Pacific Ocean waters some 9,000 feet deep off the coast of Ecuador Friday.No one was hurt. Investigators were trying to determine what caused the barge to sink.
The equipment included the robot submarine Jason Jr., parts of which were manufactured in Utah. In 1986, Ballard used Jason Jr. to explore and film the wreckage of the Titanic, an ocean liner that struck an iceberg off Newfoundland and sank April 14, 1912, killing 1,500 people.
"We're devastated," Ballard said after learning the barge sank.
It was being towed by the Ecuadoran navy from the port city Guayquil to the Galapagos Islands some 800 miles off Ecuador for a research expedition Ballard was involved in called Project Jason.
The project broadcasts undersea pictures to students across the United States and Canada.
A spokeswoman for the foundation said there were no plans to try to salvage the equipment.
"Certainly the Jason Jr. won't be damaged. That's its job, to dive," said Becky Squires. "But virtually all the rest of the equipment for the project I don't think will be so lucky."
Project officials said the equipment was insured.