2023-06-20 23:58:10
BBC News Mundo Writing June 19, 2023
Updated June 20, 2023
image copyrightOceanGate
Caption,
The lost submersible is known as the Titan, and it has the capacity to carry five people, the same number currently missing.
It is a complex rescue operation in which every minute counts.
Authorities are searching in a hurry for a commercial submersible that disappeared Sunday morning, in the middle of an expedition in which five people were preparing to observe the sunken remains of the Titanic.
The ship, named Titan and belonging to the OceanGate company, has lost all communication and is believed to be in the remote waters off the Canadian coast of Newfoundland.
The operation, described as “complex”, involves the US Coast Guard and its Canadian counterpart, as well as private boat operators and deep ocean experts.
The challenge for the authorities, reported the US military, is that there is an enormous probability that the ship has not emerged from the deep waters in which it was found.
According to Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard, the Titan was lost at a depth of about 4,000 meters.
And, in that context, time is crucial.
“We anticipate they have a full 70 to 96 hours of oxygen available at this point,” Mauger, who is leading the rescue operation, said at 4:30 p.m. ET (2030 GMT) on Monday.
That margin is reduced as the hours progress.
“It is a remote area and it is challenging to conduct a search in that remote area, but we are deploying all available resources to ensure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board,” he added.
The military noted that at first the capabilities of the Coast Guard were limited “to listen to sounds”, which means that additional resources will be needed to search under the surface of the sea.
“We are doing everything we can to locate the submarine and rescue those on board,” he continued, adding that rescuers have taken this mission “personal.”
The authorities indicated that three passengers and two crew members are on the ship that disappeared 1 hour and 45 minutes after starting the dive.
The three passengers are British millionaire and adventurer Hamish Harding and Pakistani millionaire Shahzada Dawood and her son Suleman.
The other two people are Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate, and Frenchman Paul-Henry Nargeolet.
They search in the depths, on the surface and from the air
Authorities have deployed C-130 planes, common military transport vehicles, to circle the waters where the submersible is believed to be located.
But they also use a specialized aircraft, in this case Canadian-owned, known as the P-8 Poseidon. This aircraft has been described as “highly sophisticated” and has capabilities to detect submerged submarines.
Although it is used for military intelligence, the P-8 Poseidon has also been successful during humanitarian rescue operations, and has the ability to fly very close to the surface, indicates the Boeing manufacturer’s website.
The military has placed sonar buoys in the sea, in case the Titan leaves the water and has no way of communicating.
Sonar buoys, or sonobuoys, detect and identify objects moving in the water and are often used in the search for enemy submarines.
They listen for sounds made by the propellers and machinery (passive sensing), which could also include the crew making noise against the hull of the submarine.
image copyrightGetty Images
Caption,
The submersible is wanted off the waters of Newfoundland, Canada, with private and military vessels.
Private vessels also joined the rescue, including the Polar Prince, a vessel that transported the submersible to the Titanic wreck site prior to the expedition.
Carly Pickett, a spokeswoman for Horizon Maritime, which co-owns the ship, has confirmed her involvement to the BBC.
Polar Prince is a former Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker ship.
Horizon Maritime reported that it has also sent an additional vessel, the Horizon Arctic, to help. The company’s website says the Horizon Arctic is “designed and equipped for advanced offshore support operations.”
The Canadian Coast Guard ship Kopit Hopson 1752 has also been deployed.
image copyrightOceanGate
Caption,
The authorities estimate that the Titan was lost at a depth of about 4,000 meters.
Deep Energy, a Bahamas-flagged vessel that specializes in laying pipes and cables at depths of up to 3,000 meters, is also helping in the search for the missing submersible.
Its owners, TechnipFMC, told the BBC the ship arrived at the Titanic wreck site on Tuesday morning.
Deep Energy carries two remote-controlled vehicles that can dive to 3,000 meters.
They are unmanned submersibles, operated from a control room on the mother ship, and are tethered with 1,000-meter-long cables.
Rescuers must comb depths that could reach almost 4,000 km for the 6.7m-long submersible, because radio and GPS signals cannot travel through water.
Private tours to the Titanic
Small submersibles occasionally carry tourists and paying experts to view the wreckage of the Titanic, which sank in 1912 and lies about 12,000 feet below the ocean’s surface and about 400 miles from Newfoundland, Canada.
image copyrightGetty Images
Caption,
The P-8 Poseidon aircraft has the ability to fly very close to the surface of the sea.
OceanGate charges $250,000 per person for its eight-day expedition that leaves Canada to view the famous shipwreck.
According to the OceanGate website, the submersible has a system for real-time monitoring of pressure changes and the integrity of the ship that alerts the pilot in time for him to abort the dive and return to the surface in the event that be necessary.
The company bills the voyage on its carbon fiber submersible as a “chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary.”
A full dive to the wreck, including descent and ascent, takes eight hours in total.
The Titanic, once the largest ship of its day, struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage from the English town of Southampton bound for New York on April 14, 1912. Of the 2,200 passengers and crew on board, more than 1,500 died.
image copyrightOceanGate
Caption,
The Titanic, once the largest ship of its day, struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912.
The remains of the liner have been extensively explored since they were discovered in 1985.
They are in two parts, with the bow and stern separated by about 800 meters. A huge field of debris surrounds the two parts of the boat.
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