Deep-dive vessels from around the world have been deployed to help search for the missing Titanic tourist submersible – as the Coast Guard says those on board have just 41 hours of oxygen left.
A French team is expected to arrive in Canada on Wednesday to operate a remote-controlled robot and a submarine deployed from the ship L’Atlante.
The boat can accommodate up to 30 technicians and scientists for up to 45 days, and the two devices on board can reach 6,000 m (about 20,000 feet) below sea level.
OceanGate’s submersible, the Titan, is currently missing with five people on board after losing communication during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic, which lies around 12,500ft below the Atlantic.
A frantic search and rescue operation is underway to locate and recover the ship before its 96-hour oxygen supply runs out.
A French team is due to arrive in Canada on Wednesday to operate a remote-controlled robot and submarine (pictured) which are deployed from the ship L’Atlante.
Expedition participants include billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai, and Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK board member of the Prince’s Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19 years.
Rush is also believed to be on board the vessel, which disappeared on Sunday, with French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet.
The Atlantean, which is expected to arrive in the search area later Wednesday, is less than 48 hours from the site where the submarine disappeared, according to Hervé Berville, Deputy Minister for Maritime Affairs.
It has a manned submersible called Nautile and a Victor 6000 remote-controlled vehicle on board.
Nautile can dive to a depth of 6,000m with a crew of three and is one of the very few manned deep-sea submarines.
It has three wide-angle portholes and LED floodlights offering a direct view of the seabed. A dive aboard the submarine can last up to eight hours, six of which can be spent working on the sea floor.
The remotely operated Victor 600 is a cable-operated deep-sea ROV that can go up to 6,000m deep.
Victor 6000 is connected to the ship by an 8,000 meter long electromechanical cable and provides 20 kW of electrical power
The Atlante can accommodate up to 30 technicians and scientists for up to 45 days, and the two devices on board can reach 6,000 m below sea level
It is equipped with a high-performance navigation system which includes an array of sensors linked to an inertial navigation system and has completed over 700 dives.
The high-resolution optical imaging system ensures optimal visual perception of the environment and can also generate 3D optical reconstructions of the observed area.
The Victor 6000 is connected to the ship by an 8,000 m long electromechanical cable and provides 20 kW of electrical power.
The cable’s optical fibers send data and image streams to the surface, allowing it to be piloted from the ship in real time – with no travel time limit.
In addition to the French vessels, a Bahamian-flagged vessel – which is owned by a British and American company – is also taking part in the search efforts.
The Deep Energy is owned by TechnipFMC, which specializes in pipe and cable laying, and arrived at the wreck site on Tuesday morning.
In a statement, they said, “The effort is being led by the U.S. Coast Guard with support from the Canadian Coast Guard.”
Titan is currently missing with five people on board after losing communication during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic, which lies approximately 12,500 feet below the Atlantic.
Two remote-controlled vehicles are used to assist in the search, but they can only dive to 3,000m
In addition to the French vessel, a Bahamian-flagged vessel specializing in pipe and cable laying is also participating in the search efforts.
The vessel carries two remotely operated vehicles that can dive to 3,000m to assist in the search.
They are unmanned submersibles, operated from a control room on the mothership, and are tethered with 1,000 meter long cables.
At a press conference at the U.S. Coast Guard station in Boston – which coordinates search and rescue efforts – Captain Jamie Frederick, the First District’s response coordinator, admitted on Tuesday that a rescue was a long way off. to be guaranteed.
Even if they locate the missing ship in time, there is no certainty that it can be brought to the surface safely.
The Coast Guard has already searched 7,600 square miles of ocean – an area the size of Connecticut.
Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK board member of the Prince’s Trust charity, and her son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are among five people trapped in the submarine.
French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate expedition
Among the expedition participants is billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured), CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted on social media that he was there on Sunday
At 12,500 feet underwater, few ships are able to dive deep enough to find it.
The only ones capable of searching the ocean floor are remote-controlled vehicles currently searching the ocean.
If they find the submarine, bringing it to the surface is another feat, requiring specialized equipment that is not yet on site.
Other experts have compared it to needing a 2.5 mile long cable to get to the far side of the moon.
Several civilian ships are participating in the search, as well as ships and aircraft from the United States Navy and Canadian Navy.
Among the equipment currently en route to the site is a decompression chamber for the five passengers, should they ever come to the surface.
