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St John’s, Newfoundland (Canada). – Rescue teams were racing yesterday to trace the origin of sounds heard from the depths of the North Atlantic in a search for a tourist submersible , with five people on board that vanished on its descent to the century-old wreck of the Titanic.
The US Coast Guard said remotely operated vehicle (ROV) searches were deployed in the area where Canadian aircraft detected the undersea noises using sonar buoys on Tuesday. Estimates suggest the submersible’s air supply could run out by Thursday morning
“We don’t know the source of that noise,” said US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger. 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 metal and other objects under the water made it difficult to determine the source.
Even if the submersible is located, retrieving it presents huge logistical challenges, given the extreme conditions miles below the surface.
Teams from the United States, Canada and France have searched more than 25 900 square km of open sea, roughly the size of Lebanon or the US state of Massachusetts.
The 6,7-metre submersible Titan, operated by US-based OceanGate Expeditions, began its descent at 8am on Sunday, according to the US Coast Guard. It lost contact with its parent surface vessel during what should have been a two-hour dive to the Titanic.
The US Coast Guard said on Tuesday at about 1700 GMT that it had enough air left for 41 hours, based on its specifications, which would mean a deadline of roughly 6am today. But experts say the air supply depends on a range of factors, including whether the submersible remains intact and still has power.
The wreck of the British ocean liner, which sank when it hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912, lies on the seabed at a depth of about 12,500 feet (3,810 meters). It is about 900 miles (1,450 km) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and 400 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland.
Those aboard the submersible, the highlight of a tourist expedition that costs US$250 000 per person, included British billionaire and adventurer Hamish Harding, 58, and Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, with his 19-year-old son Suleman, who are both British citizens.
French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, and Stockton Rush, founder and chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions, were also reported to be on board.
A friend of Harding, Jannicke Mikkelsen, who has accompanied the British entrepreneur on other expeditions, said on Tuesday she was hoping for good news but was not optimistic. – Reuters
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