An area as big as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: The search for the missing submersible near the “Titanic” wreck has been in full swing for days. Is there a glimmer of hope now?
When searching for the missing submersible “Titan” in the Atlantic, emergency services may have heard a sign of life from the occupants. Search teams yesterday registered a kind of knocking noise every 30 minutes in the region where the submersible is suspected, according to an internal memo from the US government, from which the broadcaster CNN and the magazine “Rolling Stone” quoted during the night.
Four hours later, after additional sonars were deployed, the knocking could still be heard, it said. According to the memo, however, it was unclear exactly when and for how long the noise was heard. A later update sent out last night reported additional noises, but these were no longer described as “knocking,” CNN wrote. The acoustic sounds indicated that there was still hope for survivors, it said. Initially, there was no comment from the operating company Oceangate or the US Coast Guard.
Oceangate: Take “every possible step” to rescue
“Every possible step is being taken to bring the five crew members back safely,” said the operating company Oceangate. Time is pressing: According to estimates by the authorities, the oxygen should only last until tomorrow afternoon (CEST) – at 5 a.m. on Wednesday there were about 30 hours left. On board is, among others, the French researcher Paul-Henri Nargeolet (77), who is considered one of the best-known experts on the wreck of the luxury liner that sank in 1912 and is therefore nicknamed “Mr. Titanic”. Other inmates are British adventurer Hamish Harding (58) and British-Pakistani business consultant Shahzada Dawood (48) and his 19-year-old son Suleman. According to Oceangate, the fifth missing person is the head of the operating company Stockton Rush (61), who acted as the captain of the boat.
The vehicle has been missing since Sunday morning (local time). About an hour and 45 minutes after the start of the dive, which was supposed to last around seven hours, contact with the support boat “Polar Prince” broke off. According to the provider Oceangate Expeditions, the almost seven meter small “Titan” has enough oxygen for a total of 96 hours. But experts were pessimistic about the chance of finding the vehicle in good time and intact.
Spectacular letter
Meanwhile, executives in the submersible industry have had concerns about Titan’s safety for years, according to an article in The New York Times. “We are concerned that Oceangate’s current experimental approach could lead to adverse outcomes (ranging from minor to catastrophic),” they wrote in a letter dated 2018 published by the newspaper. It accuses Oceangate of misleading marketing. Boss Stockton Rush was asked to have the “Titan” tested by an independent party.
That fits the impression of reporter David Pogue from the US broadcaster CBS, who took part in the trip last year. He told the BBC the vehicle seemed improvised to him. “You control this submarine with an Xbox game controller,” Pogue said. Part of the ballast consists of construction pipes. If the boat gets stuck or leaks, “there’s no backup, no escape pod,” he said. Former submarine officer Frank Owen told the BBC the biggest challenge for those trapped was staying calm and not using too much oxygen.
Search with planes and ships
The search near the “Titanic” wreck continued with planes and ships until late last night (local time). The search under water is being intensified, said John Mauger from the US Coast Guard to the US broadcaster CNN. Initially, the focus was on the water surface, with aircraft systematically flying over a large area. Underwater vehicles are said to have arrived by now. The rescue workers mainly used sonar to pick up possible noises from the “Titan”.
US National Guard planes and planes from Canada would have supported the US Coast Guard. An area of around 26,000 square kilometers had already been searched, the US Arts Guard said on Twitter. That’s bigger than Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The US Coast Guard coordinator for the search, Jamie Frederick, spoke of a very complex undertaking. A team made up of Coast Guardsmen, members of the US National Guard and Canadian Armed Forces are working “around the clock”.
Navy sends salvage system
Meanwhile, the US Navy is sending a device to salvage the submarine. As a spokeswoman for the German Press Agency said, the “Fadoss” deep-sea salvage system should arrive in St. Johns in Newfoundland, Canada, on Wednesday night (local time) and then be transported further out to sea. The Navy describes it as a “portable ship lift system that provides reliable deep-sea lifting capacity of up to 27 tons for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy sunken objects such as airplanes or small ships.” It can be installed on ships with its winch and rope.
Eight more ships are on their way. These included four Canadian Coast Guard ships, the French research vessel L’Atalante and the Canadian HMCS Glace Bay, which has a decompression chamber and medical staff on board, the US Coast Guard said yesterday evening (local time). After being rescued, divers who have had an accident must get into such a hyperbaric chamber as quickly as possible in order to prevent permanent damage. If people are under high ambient pressure for a long time, as is the case at great water depths, they absorb more nitrogen than normal. This can lead to gas bubbles in the blood and tissues, which can be fatal if they get to the brain.
However, a rescue can only be attempted once the boat has been located. The wreck of the Titanic, broken in half, lies at a depth of around 3800 meters. The conditions are extremely difficult at the site about 684 kilometers south of the Canadian island of Newfoundland. It is pitch black and the water pressure is great.
$250,000 per person
Oceangate offers wealthy customers an adventurous trip – the cost for the eight-day expedition is around 250,000 US dollars (229,000 euros). The dive itself only lasts a few hours. The company is promoting the carbon fiber submersible rides as a chance to “step out of the ordinary and discover something truly extraordinary,” according to the BBC. Experts and researchers are always on board.
With expert Nargeolet, a former Navy diver, and adventurer Harding, there are at least two experienced inmates on board. The Brit holds several Guinness World Records, including the longest dive in the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on earth at eleven kilometers, in March 2021. He flew into space in June 2022, having previously been to the South Pole several times.
The Titanic sank in the North Atlantic in 1912 on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. More than 1,500 of the 2,200 people on board died. The remains of the famous luxury liner were discovered in 1985. Films such as the blockbuster “Titanic” (1997) with Hollywood stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio further fueled interest in the disaster. Only recently, with the help of high-resolution 3D images, scientists offered the most accurate depiction of the wreck to date.