DIRECT. The search continues this Wednesday, June 21 in the North Atlantic Ocean to try to find the submarine which disappeared near the Titanic. Metallic sounds keep hope alive.
The essential
- Will the missing Titan submarine be found near the titanic off Newfoundland in Canada on Sunday?
- The 5 crew members of the tourist submarine, which left on Sunday, have less than 30 hours of oxygen to last.
- An area of 7,600 square miles (about 19,700 km²), the equivalent of Connecticut, has already been searched since Sunday, the submersible remains untraceable at this stage.
- Noises have been identified in recent hours from the search area. CNN reports that the seacraft deployed for the search “heard banging noises in the area every 30 minutes”. Four hours later, additional sonar also picked up that noise.”
- The US Coast Guard confirmed on Wednesday morning that a Canadian research plane had picked up “underwater noise”.
- It is likely that these noises come from the ship, but rescue operations remain extremely difficult.
Live
09:18 – To find the Titan submarine, a considerable search device
Hope being maintained by the noises heard in the search area, the means deployed are now considerable and directed towards a much more circumscribed area. As the BBC reported this morning, it is possible to list the emergency services on site:
- The United States Coast Guard has deployed research vessels to an ocean area “larger than the state of Connecticut”, nearly 20,000 km2. New York City also sent search planes.
- Canada sent a P-3 plane that detected the “underwater sounds” in a search area. The Canadian Coast Guard deployed both Navy and Air Force rescue teams.
- A French research vessel was also sent.
09:06 – And now, what chances of survival for the crew?
It is now the question that predominates: will we find the Titan submarine before the oxygen reserves are exhausted? “If people give any sign of life by knocking, it means that the submarine is intact. Now, we have signs of its location, we will know better where to find it”, explained this morning on BFMTV Jan Opderbecke, Head of the Underwater Systems Unit at Ifremer. Now we have to go very fast. “It will remain to organize a lifting operation for the ascent, different means are needed, an underwater vehicle which can create a lifting cable which from another ship can be lifted. It is a complex operation which must be roll out quickly”.
The experts questioned on the American media, in particular on CNN, say the same thing, adding that such a rescue mission is of great complexity: the submarine is probably at a depth of 3000 to 3800 meters, which makes research “as difficult as in space”. There remains at this stage less than 30 hours of oxygen in the device.
08:46 – Sounds probably a distress call
The sounds heard by the sonars are most likely produced by the crew, given the nature of the elements found at the bottom of the oceans. According to oceanographer David Gallo, a friend of Paul-Henri Nargeolet who is in the submarine, this is the most likely hypothesis. On BFMTV, the latter gave his opinion this Wednesday morning: “I know that my friend Paul-Henri knows what he is doing, he knows very well that it is the best way to signal himself, by emitting sounds every thirty minutes. He saves himself energy and then strikes in this way”.
08:40 – What do we know about the “underwater noises” captured in the last few hours?
The search operation carried out by underwater sonar picked up “knocking” sounds a few hours ago from the area where the submarine disappeared off Newfoundland in Canada. Around 6:30 a.m. French time, the US Coast Guard told the press that a Canadian search plane had detected “underwater noise” in the same area. Remote-controlled vehicles have been deployed “in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises” but have so far “provided negative results”.
US media reported on Wednesday morning that according to the US Department of Homeland Security, a Canadian aircraft picked up “slamming noises” heard at 30-minute intervals overnight. Homeland Security said in a note that “pounding was still heard” four hours after the very first detection of the noises, when additional sonar was deployed in the area “. It is therefore likely that these noises are of origin. human.
Learn more
While a real race against time is currently being played out across the Atlantic, captain Jamie Frederick gave a press conference in Boston on Tuesday evening June 20. If an area of 7,600 square miles (about 19,700 km²), the equivalent of Connecticut, has already been searched since Sunday, the submersible remains untraceable at this stage. Search parties are on deck, working around the clock to find the submarine and especially its five passengers trapped inside, the submersible being locked from the outside and only able to be unlocked by someone outside of it. inside. The noises identified could now be decisive.
Captain Jamie Frederick, however, welcomed the arrival of a remotely operated ROV with an onboard camera at the last known location where the missing submarine passed. In the event of the discovery of the submarine, Captain Jamie Frederick assured that everything would be done to be able to carry out a rescue.
How long can passengers survive in the submarine?
Time is running out for the research teams. The tourist submarine had time to sink to nearly 4,000 meters deep in the Atlantic Ocean before no longer appearing on radar. Needless to say that at such a depth under the sea the environment is hostile with the pressure, the absence of oxygen and the total darkness of the abyss. “There is no escape pod. If you got out of the water at those depths you would be crushed, so they are totally dependent on finding the submersible,” adds specialist Simon Boxall.
But the cockpit of the submarine will not be able to serve as a refuge indefinitely. For their exploration, the passengers left with a reserve of oxygen and if, Monday evening, the rescue teams estimated that the submersible could be autonomous in oxygen for another 70 hours, Tuesday evening.
Was the submarine able to come to the surface?
Not only about the lack of oxygen, you also have to worry about the condition of the submarine. Problem, all communications being cut, it is impossible to know if the device encounters technical or electrical problems which could jeopardize the survival of the passengers.
Two scenarios are considered by Alistair Greig, professor of marine engineering at University College London, with theAFP. From the images of the submarine, the professor imagines that in the event of an electrical or communication problem the submersible could have risen to the surface and could float “waiting to be found”. Specialist Simon Boxall is not of this opinion and considers it unlikely that the Titan has risen to the surface. The man also does not believe that the submersible was trapped in the wreckage. According to Alistair Greig’s second hypothesis, the less reassuring, the ship could have suffered a leak or seen its hull damaged, “then the prognosis is not good”.
Where is the missing submarine near the Titanic?
The OceanGate Expeditions submarine was set to sail for the sinking Titanic wreck in 1912 after colliding with an iceberg. But the submersible disappeared before reaching its destination, 1,448 km off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts (900 miles) and at a depth of 4,000 meters (13,000 feet).
The area where the submarine should be and where rescue operations are concentrated is “isolated, it [y] is difficult to conduct research […] We are doing everything possible to locate the boat and rescue those on board,” said U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger.
Significant resources have been deployed to find the submersible: two military aircraft are monitoring the surface of the water, an American C-130 and a Canadian P8, and a submarine, sonar buoys and a ROV remote control vehicle were launched to sound the depths. The sonars make it possible to capture any activity up to 3,950 meters deep. This more or less corresponds to the distance the wreck of the Titanic lies and the distance the submarine had to go. The Horizon Arctic vessel “designed and equipped for advanced offshore support operations” is also taking part in the research, Horizon Maritime said.
Despite the means deployed, the submersible descended to a depth where “very few vessels can go” according to Alistair Greig. The US Coast Guard added at a press conference that the search is taking place in a difficult area with “low” visibility due to fog, but in “fairly normal” sea conditions.
Who are the five passengers of the missing submarine?
They are five to have taken place in the Titan submarine to go to the wreck of the Titanic. Among them, two seasoned adventurers including the French aquanaut Paul-Henry Nargeolet, one of the greatest experts of the British liner in the world. The septuagenarian had already dived more than 35 times near the famous wreck and was systematically aware of the risks as a former Navy officer and diving professional. “He is a very good connoisseur of this underwater perimeter. He is capable of anything. Including resurfacing”, assured his press officer Mathieu Johann to the Parisian.
The second explorer aboard the Titan submarine is 58-year-old British businessman Hamish Harding. The president of the international company Action Aviation was part of the fifth commercial flight of Blue Origin, becoming at the same time one of the first space tourists. The man had shared his participation in marine exploration near the Titanic on social networks.
The founder of OceanGate, the company organizing the expedition aboard the submarine, Stockton Rush, is also on board the submersible, according to information from sky news. The other two people who complete the tourist crew of the Titan are Shahzada Dawood, a prominent and wealthy Pakistani businessman, and his son Suleman. The businessman is vice-president of Engro, a conglomerate which invests in energy, agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunications, specifies The Parisian.
These five passengers boarded the Titan submarine for an estimated 10-day expedition, including 8 at sea, according to the private company’s website OceanGate Expeditions. The submersible normally needs a driver, guide and up to three civilian passengers who would each pay $250,000 to participate in the expedition.