French government sends underwater vehicle to aid in ‘last chance’ effort to save Titanic sub passengers
Search crews desperately racing against time to save the passengers on the missing Titanic-bound sub are awaiting the arrival of a French underwater vehicle that can reach up to 20,000 feet underwater.
The French government, which is assisting in the search for OceanGate Expeditions’ missing Titan sub, said the Atalante ship is on its way to the search area carrying the Victor 6000, a robot capable of diving beyond the depth of the Titanic shipwreck. The robot is unmanned but overseen by a team of 25 from the waters’ surface. It also utilizes a mechanical robot arm which could become essential in any rescue effort.
Ifremer, the organization that operates the French ship, said they received word on Monday for their assistance, with the sub expected to arrive Wednesday at around 6 p.m.
French officials have promised to provide the necessary aid for the search after famed Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French national, was confirmed to be among the five missing passengers.
It comes as three US Air Force planes delivered more critical equipment and tools for the search operation Tuesday night — in what was described as the “last chance” to rescue them.
The massive C-17 Globemasters, which were believed to have flown from New Jersey and North Carolina, landed at St. John’s Airport in Newfoundland, where they were met by several flatbed trucks, according to the UK’s Metro.
The cargo was frantically placed onto the trucks, which made their way with a police escort to the waiting Horizon Arctic, a Canadian supply ship that set sail soon afterward on the 15-hour, 400-mile voyage to the area where Titan vanished.
“This is the last kick at it. This is the last chance. There’s no other chance other than this ROV (underwater vehicle),” said a man at the dock who claimed he would be part of the Horizon Arctic crew, the Daily Mail reported.
“I’m hoping for the best. I’m really, really hoping. It will be a tragedy for everyone if this is not found. A tragedy on top of a tragedy,” he added.
Despite the characterization, US Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick told reporters Wednesday that they are remaining “hopeful and optimistic” that they can save the five passengers aboard the Titan.
“You always have hope,” Frederick said. “That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
Officials said they were currently investigating repeated banging that was heard in the search area, with experts analyzing the sound to determine if it’s coming from a submersible.
Follow the Post’s live updates of the Titanic sub disaster
Frederick said the sounds were heard late Tuesday and into Wednesday, with ships and remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) deployed to the area.
Despite no confirmation yet that the sounds came from Titian, Frederick was optimistic that French ROV specialists who set out to the area would have better luck.
Among the equipment loaded onto the ship was a giant roll of thick cable, two large machines with a blue frame and a “high voltage” sign on the side, and two heavy-duty Hyundai winches, according to reports.
Also loaded was a crate marked Pelagic Research Services, a Massachusetts-based company that specializes in deep-sea rescue equipment, Metro reported.
Federick said that along with the new equipment, more search vessels were on the way, and that 10 ships would be out in the waters within the next 24 hours.
On its website, PRS said it had been contacted by OceanGate Expeditions “to provide critical support in the current rescue operation of the submersible Titan in the North Atlantic.
“Currently, PRS is in the process of mobilization as quickly and as safely as possible to assist in the search and rescue effort,” it said.
An airport official in Newfoundland told WGRZ that a plane arrived with a 7-foot-long submersible called Odysseus 6K, which a PRS rep said can dive down to 19,000 feet.
Frederick told reporters Tuesday that there was only about 40 hours of oxygen left aboard the Titan, with the time halved by Wednesday afternoon.
When asked if he thought the Horizon Arctic will arrive on time, he said: “I don’t know the answer to that question. What I will tell you is that we will do everything in our power to effect a rescue,” the CBC reported.
“This is a complex search, and it’s complex for a variety of reasons. Logistically speaking, it’s hard to bring assets to bear. It takes time. It takes coordination,” he added.
Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard said late Tuesday it has established a “unified command” with its Canadian counterpart and OceanGate Expeditions.
“This is a complex search effort which requires multiple agencies with subject matter expertise and specialized equipment, which we have gained through the unified command,” Frederick said in a statement.
Also en route to the site is the Royal Canadian Navy’s HMCS Glace Bay, which is equipped with a six-person hyperbaric recompression chamber — but it’s not expected to arrive until midday Thursday, according to the CBC.
Tourist submersible exploring Titanic wreckage disappears in Atlantic Ocean
What we know
A submersible on a pricey tourist expedition to the Titanic shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean has vanished with likely only four days’ worth of oxygen. The US Coast Guard said the small submarine began its journey underwater with five passengers Sunday morning, and the Canadian research vessel that it was working with lost contact with the crew about an hour and 45 minutes into the dive.
It was later found that a top-secret team with the US Navy detected the implosion of the Titan submersible on Sunday, but did not stop search efforts due because the evidence was “not definitive” and a decision was made to “make every effort to save the lives on board.”
Who was on board?
The family of world explorer Hamish Harding confirmed on Facebook that he was among the five traveling in the missing submarine. Harding, a British businessman who previously paid for a space ride aboard the Blue Origin rocket last year, shared a photo of himself on Sunday signing a banner for OceanGate’s latest voyage to the shipwreck.
Also onboard were Pakistani energy and tech mogul Shanzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman, 19; famed French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush.
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- Coast Guard knew Titan sub imploded Sunday, but continued search anyway — here’s why
What’s next?
“We’re doing everything we can do to locate the submersible and rescue those on board,” Rear Adm. John Mauger told reporters. “In terms of the hours, we understood that was 96 hours of emergency capability from the operator.
Coast Guard officials said they are currently focusing all their efforts on locating the sub first before deploying any vessel capable of reaching as far below as 12,500 feet where the Titanic wreck is located.
Mauger, first district commander and leader of the search-and-rescue mission, said the US was coordinating with Canada on the operation.
The debris recovered from the US Coast Guard’s Titan submersible search site early Thursday included “a landing frame and a rear cover from the submersible.”
After search efforts to recover the stranded passengers proved futile, and bits of debris from the submersible were found, it was decided that the sub imploded, which correlated with an anomaly picked up by the US Navy in the same area.
The Coast Guard later reported that all 5 passengers were confirmed dead, and rescue efforts were halted.
Dr. Ken Ledez, a hyperbaric medicine specialist from Memorial University, told the outlet that if the five people are still alive, they face risks of hypothermia, lack of oxygen, and an excess of carbon dioxide.
“[After a while] you won’t have movement or muscle strength,” Ledez said. “Your reasoning will decline and you will lose consciousness the colder you get.”
If the Titan runs out of oxygen, he explained, the people will quickly lose consciousness.
But even if they still have air, they could be at risk if they lost electrical power and have no way to filter out the carbon dioxide from their breath, Ledez said.
The expert noted that they could disassemble the equipment used to filter out CO2 and spread it across the sub’s floor in a last-ditch effort to save their lives.
Missing aboard the sub are pilot Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British billionaire Hamish Harding, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Sulaiman.
Renewed hope has emerged after a Canadian military aircraft detected underwater noises every 30 minutes in the area where the Titan lost contact with its support ship.
