A race against time is engaged in the Atlantic Ocean to find a missing submarine carrying five people on a mission to observe the wreckage of the Titanic, the iconic liner that sank more than a century ago.
The carbon fiber submersible dubbed Titan, part of an OceanGate Expeditions mission, carried a pilot, a renowned British adventurer, two members of an iconic Pakistani business family and a Titanic expert. Authorities reported the vessel was overdue Sunday evening, about 700 kilometers south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, according to Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.
Every minute that passes puts the crew of the Titan in danger. The submersible had a 96-hour supply of oxygen when it set sail around 6 a.m. Sunday, according to OceanGate adviser David Concannon.
“This is a remote area, and it is difficult to conduct research there,” said Rear Admiral John Mauger, the commander of the US Coast Guard who are also looking for the Titan.
Mr Mauger explained on the show on Tuesday Today of the chain NBC that its teams endeavored to give the priority to the underwater research and to convey on the spot the equipment likely to be useful for research.
“We are working hard to make sure we bring all the resources […] to bring in the best technical experts to understand what capabilities are available, what capabilities we can contribute to the team,” he said.
The Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, which was supporting the Titan, reportedly lost contact with the submersible about an hour and 45 minutes after its dive. The Polar Prince was expected to continue searching the surface overnight and a Canadian Boeing P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft will resume surface and subsurface searches in the morning, the US Coast Guard said on Twitter. Two American Lockheed C-130 Hercules also performed overflights.
The Canadian army has also dropped sonar buoys to listen for possible sounds emitted by the Titan.
MarineTraffic.com satellite data analyzed by The Associated Press shows the Polar Prince was about 690 kilometers southeast of Saint John on Tuesday morning. The Bahamian-flagged cable ship Deep Energy was also nearby and was likely assisting with the surface search.
In an email to the AP, Concannon said authorities were working to get a remotely operated vehicle capable of reaching a depth of six kilometers to the site as soon as possible.
Prominent personalities on board
OceanGate’s expeditions to the Titanic wreck site include archaeologists and marine biologists. The company also employs paid people, called “mission specialists”, who take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible.
The Coast Guard said Monday there was a pilot and four “mission specialists” on board. However, the OceanGate website hints that the fifth person on board could be a “content expert” who guides paying customers.
OceanGate said its focus is on those on board and their families.
“We are deeply grateful for the extensive assistance we have received from multiple government agencies and ocean-going companies in our efforts to restore contact with the submersible,” OceanGate said in a statement.
Authorities have yet to formally identify the people on board, although some names have been confirmed.
British businessman Hamish Harding, who lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was one of the specialists on the mission, according to Action Aviation, a company of which Mr Harding is chairman. The company’s chief executive, Mark Butler, told the AP the crew left on Friday.
“There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board to survive in this case,” Butler said. We all hope he comes back safe and sound. »
Mr. Harding is a billionaire adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth for a manned ship. In March 2021 he dived with explorer Victor Vescovo to the deepest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.
Mr Harding was “eager to conduct research” at the Titanic site, said Richard Garriott de Cayeux, the president of the Explorers Club, a group to which Mr Harding belonged.
“We all hope that the submersible will be found as soon as possible,” he said in a statement.
Pakistani nationals Shahzada Dawood and her son Suleman were also on board, according to a family statement sent to the AP. The Dawoods belong to one of Pakistan’s most prominent families. Their namesake company invests nationwide in agriculture, industry and the health sector.
“We are very grateful to our colleagues and friends for their interest in this matter and would like to ask everyone to pray for their safety while respecting the privacy of the family at this time,” the statement read. . The family is well surrounded and prays to Allah that the members of his family return safe and sound. »
Shahzada Dawood is also on the board of the California-based SETI Institute, which researches extraterrestrial intelligence.
French explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet was also on board, according to David Gallo, senior advisor for strategic initiatives and special projects at RMS Titanic. Mr. Gallo identified Mr. Nargeolet, a friend who led numerous expeditions on the Titanic, on Tuesday during an interview with CNN.
Shipments over $100,000 per passenger
The expedition was OceanGate’s third annual voyage to study the deterioration of the Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but 700 passengers and crew. out of a total of about 2,200. Since its discovery in 1985, the wreckage has slowly succumbed to metal-eating bacteria. Some have predicted that the ship could disappear within decades as holes are punched in the hull and sections disintegrate.
The first group of tourists, in 2021, paid between US$100,000 and US$150,000 each to make the trip. The OceanGate website had described the “mission support fee” for the 2023 expedition as US$250,000 per person.
Unlike submarines, which leave port and return under their own power, submersibles require a ship to launch and recover. OceanGate contracted the Polar Prince to ferry dozens of people and the submersible to the wreck site in the North Atlantic. The submersible had to make several dives during the same expedition.
The shipment was scheduled to depart from St. John’s, Newfoundland in early May and complete in late June, according to documents the company filed in April with a U.S. district court in Virginia who oversees Titanic affairs.
CBS reporter David Pogue, who took part in the expedition last year, noticed that his ship had turned around in search of the Titanic.
“There’s no GPS underwater, so the surface ship is supposed to guide the submarine to the wreckage by sending it text messages,” Pogue said in footage shown on the show. CBS Sunday Morning. But during this dive, communications were interrupted. The submarine never found the wreckage. »
The submersible, dubbed Titan, is capable of diving four kilometers “with a comfortable margin of safety,” OceanGate said in court documents.
A reputedly “unparalleled” safety device
In a May 2021 court filing, OceanGate said the Titan had an “unparalleled safety feature” that assesses the integrity of the hull on every dive.
During its 2022 expedition, OceanGate reported that the submersible had a battery problem on its first dive and had to be manually attached to its lifting platform, according to a court filing in November.
Other missions, however, followed. OceanGate described the submersible as a “state-of-the-art vessel” that “is lighter, roomier and more comfortable than any other deep-diving submersible exploring the ocean today.”
But the Titan, custom-built and featuring a titanium dome, was a risk. Mr. Pogue and fellow passenger, Mike Reiss, the writer and producer of the cartoon series The simpsonsnoted that the liability waiver for the trip included stern safety warnings.
In his CBS article, Mr. Pogue also pointed out that much of the “improvised” submersible, the size of a minivan, was operated using a single button, a video game controller , a makeshift toilet and equipment from an RV retailer.
Experts stressed on Monday that rescuers face considerable challenges.
Alistair Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London, explained that submersibles usually have a drop weight, that is, a mass that they can release in the event of an accident. urgency to get to the surface thanks to buoyancy.
“If there was a power and/or communications failure, that could have happened, and the submersible would then have floated to the surface waiting to be found,” Mr Greig said.
Another scenario is that of a leak in the pressurized hull, in which case the prognosis is not good, according to him.
“If it’s gone down to the bottom of the sea and it can’t come back up on its own, the options are very limited,” Greig admitted. If the submersible is still intact, if it is beyond the continental shelf, there are very few ships capable of going that deep, and certainly not divers. »