Rescue teams continued to work under the clock this Wednesday to trace the origin of the sounds that were heard in the depths of the North Atlantic in search of a tourist submersible with five people on board that disappeared in its descent towards the remains of the centenary wreck of the Titanic. , less than 20 hours before the oxygen reserved in the submersible runs out.
The US Coast Guard said remotely operated vehicle (ROV) searches were deployed in the area where Canadian planes detected the underwater noises using sonar buoys on Tuesday. Estimates suggest that the submersible’s air supply it could sell out on Thursday morning.
“We don’t know the source of that noise”US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said Wednesday. Two ROVs and a surface vessel are being used to try to locate the source, he said. “This is an incredibly complex site,” Mauger said, noting that the metal and other objects underwater made it difficult to determine the source.
Even if the submersible is found, recovering it presents enormous logistical challenges, given the extreme conditions miles below the surface. Teams from the United States, Canada and France have searched more than 10,000 square miles of open sea, roughly the size of Lebanon or the US state of Massachusetts.
The 6.7-meter submersible Titan, operated by US-based OceanGate Expeditions, began its descent at Sunday morning, according to the US Coast Guard. It lost contact with its main surface vessel during what should have been a two-hour dive to the Titanic.
The US Coast Guard said Tuesday at noon that it had enough air left for 41 hours.based on your specifications, which would mean a deadline of approximately 6:00 AM on Thursday. But experts say that air supply depends on a variety of factors, including if the submersible remains intact and still has power.
The remains of the British liner, which sank when it struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912, lies on the seabed at a depth of about 3,810 metres. It is located about 1,450 km east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and 640 km south of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Aboard the submersible, the highlight of a tourist expedition costing $250,000 per person, were British billionaire and adventurer Hamish Harding, 58, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, with their 19-year-old son Suleman. years old, both British citizens. French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, and Stockton Rush, founder and CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, were also reported to be on board.
A friend of Harding’s, Jannicke Mikkelsen, who has accompanied the British businessman on other expeditions, said on Tuesday that she expected good news but was not optimistic. “It would be a miracle if they come back alive,” he said.
Questions about the safety of the Titan arose in a 2018 lawsuit filed by OceanGate’s former director of marine operations, David Lochridge, who claimed that he was fired for expressing concern that the hull could not withstand extreme depths. In its own legal claim against Lochridge, OceanGate said he refused to honor the lead engineer’s assurances and accused him of inappropriately sharing confidential information. The two parties settled their court case in November 2018.
Neither the company nor Lochridge’s lawyer have commented on the details of the dispute. Months before the lawsuit, a group of submersible industry leaders wrote to OceanGate warning that the “experimental” approach to submarine development could result in “less than catastrophic” problems, The New York Times reported.
Aaron Newman, a former Titan passenger who knows some of the missing people, told US media he felt safe during his dive.
“Obviously this is the type of exploration that is doing things, this is not a Disney trip,” he said. “We go to places that very few people have been.”
A French research ship carrying a deep-sea diving submersible robot was sent to the area at the request of the US Navy and was expected to arrive later on Wednesday.
The unmanned robot is capable of diving as deep as the wreckage of the Titanic and could help free the submersible if it is stuck, although the robot cannot lift the almost 10-tonne Titan on its own. The US Coast Guard said the Canadian Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft, which has surveillance equipment below the surface, detected the underwater noises on Tuesday.
Remote underwater teams were deployed to the area and data from the aircraft was shared with US Navy experts. “For further analysis to be considered in future search plans,” the Coast Guard wrote on Twitter.
He did not give details about the nature of the sounds, but CNN and Rolling Stone magazine, citing internal US government communications, reported that Canadian planes detected hits at 30-minute intervals.
If the Titan is stuck on the ocean floor, a rescue effort would require specialized equipment due to the massive pressures and total darkness at a depth of more than 10,000 feet. The Titanic Expert Tim Matlin, said it would be “nearly impossible to effect a submarine-to-submarine rescue” on the seabed.
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