The search for a submersible carrying five people near the wreckage of the Titanic continues after it lost contact with its support ship, with only enough oxygen for a few days. The Titan submersible was on an eight-day journey priced at $250,000 a person. The submersible began its two-hour descent to the wreck on June 18 and lost contact with the support ship 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent. The missing individuals include British businessman Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood, his son Sulaiman Dawood, and OceanGate CEO and founder Stockton Rush.
The US Coast Guard detected underwater noises on Tuesday, and search teams reportedly heard banging sounds in 30-minute intervals. However, it is still not clear what happened to the submersible, why it lost contact, and how close it was to the Titanic when it went missing. The search is challenging due to the remote location, local weather conditions, state of the submersible, and the extraordinary depth of the ocean in the area they went missing.
The Titan is a submersible designed to carry 96 hours of oxygen for five people on board. However, it has limited power reserves, and it needs a support ship on the surface to launch and recover it. The Titan weighs 23,000 pounds and is made of carbon fiber and titanium, with safety features to monitor the structure integrity of the vessel. It is also small and sparse on the inside, with about as much space as a minivan.
The search involves multiple agencies from both the US and Canada, including the US Coast Guard, US Navy, US Air Force, Canadian Coast Guard, and Canadian military. France has also sent a research ship equipped with an underwater robot to join the search. Deep sea-mapping company Magellan is also working to get its equipment to the site. The US Navy’s nuclear-powered submarines typically operate at 800 feet or less, meaning they can’t dive down to the ocean floor where water pressure on the submarine hull could make it implode.
The search for the missing submersible and its passengers is ongoing, with authorities working tirelessly to locate and rescue the vessel.
Read More of this Story at www.cnn.com – 2023-06-21 05:51:00
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