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The search for the missing submarine that took people to the Titanic is a huge «challenge», the rescuers have begun a race against time. Authorities are using «every means available» as they warn the Titan submersible will only last 96 hours of oxygen.
«All available means» have been deployed to assist in search efforts in the Atlantic Ocean following the loss of a submersible that carried five people to the wreck of the Titanic.
The submersible, known as the Titan, is operated by OceanGate Expeditions, according to The Guardian. On Monday, reports came in that he was missing. Communication was lost 1 hour and 45 minutes after the Sunday afternoon dive, the US Coast Guard said.
The vessel is capable of being submerged for 96 hours, but it was not clear if it was still submerged or surfaced on surface and failed to communicate.
The Titan is a carbon fiber and titanium submersible used to investigate the wreck of the Titanic.
«It's a remote area and it's not easy to search there,» the Coast Guard commander said on Monday. «But we will use every means available to make sure we can locate the vessel and rescue the people on board.»
Support vessel Titan, the Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, will continue surface searches throughout the evening, while the Canadian P8 Poseidon aircraft will resume searches in the morning, the Coast Guard said late Monday evening.
David Concannon, advisor to OceanGate, said the submersible's 96-hour oxygen usage began at around 6 am Sunday. Concannon said he was supposed to be on the dive himself, but was unable to because of another business with a client.
In an email to The Associated Press, he said officials were working to bring the to the excavation site a remotely controlled vehicle that could reach a depth of 6000 m.
Such a device can be dropped overboard the vessel, with which it is connected by an «umbilical cord» that allows the pilot to control its engines, as well as transmit real-time data from its sonar systems and cameras. However, the amount of Titanic wreckage on the ocean floor means it may take time to distinguish between what is a shipwreck and what is a Titan.
But experts have said that even if the ship is found underwater, extracting it can also be difficult, especially if it is lost in the rubble of a hundred years ago.
“Parts of it [Titanic] are scattered all over the place. It's dangerous,” says Frank Owen, a retired Royal Australian Navy officer and director of the Submarine Rescue Project.
Aleister Greig, professor of marine engineering at University College London, notes: “If he seabed and cannot rise back under its own power, the possibilities are very limited. While the submersible may still be intact if it is off the continental shelf, very few vessels can reach that depth, and certainly not divers.”
“Submersibles usually have a drop weight, which is a mass that they can drop in an emergency to float to the surface using buoyancy,” added Greig. “If there was a power outage…or a communication failure, it could happen and the submersible would then float on the surface, waiting to be found.”
Chris Parry, Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy in retired, told Sky News that the rescue appears to be “a very difficult operation.”
“The Titanic itself lies in a recess. There is a lot of garbage around. So trying to discriminate with sonar in particular and targeting the area you want to search with another submersible will be really difficult.”
US and Canadian ships and aircraft combed an area about 1,450 kilometers east of Cape Cod on Monday, some dropping sonar buoys that can monitor depths of almost 4,000 meters, the US Coast Guard said. But the search was «difficult» because the crews didn't know if the ship had surfaced, which meant they had to comb both the surface and the ocean depths.
According to the latest information, one of the bathyscaphe's crew, Irish explorer Rory Golden got in touch. According to the Irish newspaper Irish Sun, Golden wrote on social networks that he was fine.
OceanGate expeditions to the wreck of the Titanic include archaeologists and marine biologists. The company also recruits people known as «mission specialists» who pay to participate in the expedition. They take turns operating the sonar equipment and performing other tasks in a five-man submersible. The Coast Guard said on Monday that one pilot and four «mission specialists» were on board.
One of those believed to be on board is Paul Henri Narjolet, a former French Navy commander, deep-sea diver and submersible pilot. As Director of Underwater Research for E/M Group and RMS Titanic, Inc., he is widely regarded as the lead specialist on the Titanic wreck, and it is possible that Narjolet led the dive of the four-passenger submersible.
Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleiman were also on board, their family said in a statement.
«We are very grateful for the care shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to ask everyone to pray for their safety,» the statement said.
British businessman Hamish Harding, a renowned aviator and explorer, became part of a small group tourists who have been in space were also among those who booked an underwater trip. Harding, 58, wrote on social media Saturday: “Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only completed mission on the Titanic in 2023. The weather window has just opened and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.” In a previous post, he described himself as a “mission specialist” during the trip.
OceanGate Expeditions has been running expeditions since 2021. A statement on the company's website on Monday read: “Our focus is on the crew members of the submersible and their families. We are deeply grateful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible.”