Nautile is a manned submersible owned by Ifremer, the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea. Commissioned in 1984, the submersible can be operated at depths of up to 6 km (3.7 mi). Nautile is capable of housing three people. She has a length of 8 m, still imaging cameras, two colour video cameras, and a number of flood lights. She is fitted with two robotic arms to allow remote manipulation. Nautile can stay under water for up to eight hours at a time. Two ships can act as mothership to Nautile: Pourquoi Pas? and Atalante. In its early days Nautile was launched from RV Nadir.