JAKARTA - Entering the third day of search for lost underwater vehicles as they headed for the ruins of thetoric Ship, rescue teams expanded search areas in the North Atlantic and were in a race against time.
Titan's 21-foot underwater vehicle was built to stay underwater for 96 hours, according to specifications, giving five people inside it until Thursday morning before the air runs out.
A pilot and four passengers were in an underwater vehicle on Sunday morning, when the ship lost communication with the aircraft carrier on the surface about an hour 45 minutes after diving for two hours.
US and Canadian aircraft have conducted searches in more than 7,600 square miles of the high seas, a wider area of the state of Connecticut, US Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday.
The Canadian military has dropped a sonar buoy to listen to any sound that may come from Titan. Meanwhile, a commercial ship with a remotely controlled deep-sea submarine also conducted a search near the site, Frederick said.
Separately, a French research vessel carrying an autonomous submarine was delivered to the search area at the request of the US Navy, expected to arrive Wednesday evening local time, the research institute Ifremer said.
Rescue teams face significant obstacles both in finding Titan and in rescuing the people inside, according to experts.
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— OceanGate Expeditions (@OceanGateExped) June 19, 2023
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If the underwater vehicle experiences a state of emergency in the middle of a dive, the pilot will likely release a weight to float back to the surface, according toLAY Greig, a professor of marine engineering at University College London.
"However, without communication, finding underwater vehicles the size of vans in the vast Atlantic proved challenging," he said.
Submersible was sealed with bolts from outside, preventing its occupants from escaping without help even if it surfaces.
If Titan was on the seabed, rescue efforts would be more challenging because of extreme conditions of more than 2 miles below the surface. How come it is located 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) underwater, where no sunlight penetrates. Only specialized equipment can reach such depth without being crushed by enormous water pressure.
"It feels like being an astronaut going into space," said Tim Matlin, an expert.
"I think if you are on the seabed, there are only a few submarines capable of diving that deep. Therefore, I think it is almost impossible to save from submarines to submarines," he explained.
Authorities have not confirmed their identity in Titan. However, a number of reports mention the names of British billionaire Hamish Harding and Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood with his son Suleman, both British nationals. French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, founder and CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, were also reported to be participating.
Separately, Titan's disappearance came to the attention of US and British leaders. US President Joe Biden "supervised the event closely," said White House national security adviser John Kirby on Tuesday.
Sources of the Buckinghm Palace said King Charles III asked to continue to be fully informed of the search, as Dawood was one of the donors of the king's charity, Prince's Trust International.
OceanGate said it was "mobilizing all options," and US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told NBC News the company was helping guide search efforts.
"They know the site is better than anyone else," Mauger said.
"We are working very closely with them to prioritize our underwater search efforts and get equipment there," he said.
As previously reported, the US Coast Guard said on Twitter, a surface ship, Polar Prince, had lost Titan which it launched about an hour and 45 minutes after starting a dive towards the location of the ruins on Sunday morning.
It is known that the ruins of palpitations, the British ship that crashed into an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912, are located about 900 miles (1,450 km) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and 400 miles (644 km) south of St. Louis. John's, Newfoundland.
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