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The wreck of the Titanic lies 3,800 meters deep at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean (archive image)
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- Author: Kathryn Armstrong and George Wright
- Roll, BBC News
- June 20, 2023 at 06:50 03
Updated 43 minutes ago
Search teams from the US and Canada are racing against time to find a submersible that went missing during an expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic last Sunday (06/18).
According to the US Coast Guard, the vehicle still had about 40 hours of oxygen during a press conference at around 2 p.m. (Brasília time) in Boston. The company reported that it used a remotecontrolled vehicle to begin a dive at the submarine’s last known location.
Captain Jamie Frederick said that in addition to the Coast Guard, the US and Canadian navies were “working day and night” to locate the craft.
The search, conducted in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, lasted into the night and covered an area 7.6 square miles, larger than the US state of Connecticut. So far, however, there is no sign of the ship.
The ship, which had five people on board, lost contact about an hour and 45 minutes after going under.
In addition to the Canadian and US navies, government agencies and commercial companies specializing in deep sea are also helping in the search for the submersible.
Among the people on board is Hamish Harding, a 58yearold British billionaire entrepreneur and explorer.
Also participating in the expedition are British businessman of Pakistani origin Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, the family said in a statement.
OceanGate, the company responsible for the expedition, confirmed in a brief statement that Managing Director Stockton Rush “is on board the submersible as a member of the crew”.
Another passenger is French explorer PaulHenry Nargeolet, according to a Facebook post by Harding ahead of the expedition’s start.
“Right now, our focus is to get as many resources into the area as possible,” US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said at a news conference.
So far, military aircraft, a submarine and buoys equipped with sonar are used to find the ship.
The Titanic wreck lies about 700 km south of St. John’s, in the province of Newfoundland, Canada. However, the focus of the rescue operation is in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
The US Coast Guard said a research vessel named Polar Prince conducted a surface search Monday night.
It is used to transport submersibles to the wreck site and was the supply ship for the tourism expedition on Sunday.
The missing ship is the OceanGate submarine Titan, which CBS journalist David Pogue boarded last year to go to the wreck of the Titanic.
He told the BBC that short text messages could be exchanged between them when the supply ship was directly overhead of the sub.
Communication via GPS or radio systems is therefore not possible, as none of these work underwater.
Pogue claims that the people on board the sub are also unable to escape on their own as they are locked inside by external bolts.
A submersible is different from a submarine. According to the United States Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a submarine can launch itself into the sea from a port, while a submersible has very limited power reserves and therefore needs a mother ship to launch and recover it.
Rear Admiral Mauger noted that the area where the search was being conducted was “remote,” making it difficult to operate.
In addition, visibility is quickly lost below the water surface because the sunlight cannot penetrate so deeply.
Website OceanGate claims the company has three submersibles and only Titan is capable of diving deep enough to reach Titanic’s wreckage.
The ship weighs 10,432 kg and can reach depths of up to almost 4,000 meters, according to the website.
Expedition tickets cost US$250,000 (about R$1.2 million) for an eightday trip, including dives to the wreck at a depth of 3,800 meters.
Harding posted on social media over the weekend that he was “proud to finally be able to announce” he’ll be on board the mission to see the Titanic wreck up close but added that it’s “due to the… the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years.” The mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to Titanic in 2023.”
He later wrote, “A weather window has just opened and we will be attempting a dive tomorrow.”
OceanGate stated, “We couldn’t establish communication with any of our submersible reconnaissance craft,” but “all of our focus.” [está] about the crew of the submarine and their families”.
“We are deeply grateful for the assistance we have received from various government agencies and deepwater companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible,” he added.
The company describes the eightday voyage in its carbon fiber submersible as a “chance to break the mold and discover something truly extraordinary.”
The expedition departs from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada and each full dive to the wreck, including descent and ascent, takes around eight hours.
According to the company’s website, one expedition is underway and two more are planned for June 2024.
In 1912, the Titanic, then the largest ship, sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York, USA. Of the 2,200 passengers and crew on board, more than 1,500 died.
The wreck is split in two with the bow and stern being approximately 790 meters apart. A huge debris field surrounds the remains of the ship.