Victor 6000 underwater search robot
The US Coast Guard said on June 22 that it was still “hopeful” of locating the Titan exploration submersible that went missing a few days ago while visiting the wreck of the Titanic and rescuing the five people inside. But the challenges facing the rescue team are getting bigger, according to AFP.
Based on information that the Titan was carrying enough emergency oxygen for up to 96 hours, rescuers estimated that those inside the sealed small ship would have run out of oxygen by early June 22 (US East Coast time).
96 Hours to Oxygen Depletion: The Race to Find the Missing Submarine While Visiting the Titanic Wreck
A multinational search and rescue effort - including military aircraft, coast guard vessels and remotely operated robots from the US and Canada - is focusing on an area close to where the underwater noise was detected in the North Atlantic.
A French research vessel, equipped with a remote-controlled robot Victor 6000 that can search at depths of up to 6,000 meters underwater, arrived near the Titanic wreck on June 22. According to Rob Larter, a marine expert at the British Antarctic Survey, the Victor 6000 is the "main hope" in an underwater search.
An additional Canadian ship carrying medical personnel and decompression chambers was en route to the area early on June 22. Canadian media reported that the ship was not expected to arrive before midday.
The discovery of underwater noises has raised hopes that those inside the minivan-sized submersible are still alive, although experts have not been able to confirm their origin.
"Honestly, we don't know what they are. We have to be optimistic and hopeful," US Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick said of the noises.
Little known about the missing submarine while visiting the Titanic wreck: controlled by Xbox game controller, visitors cannot escape by themselves
According to the US Coast Guard, the Titan submersible began its descent at 8am on June 18 to visit the Titanic wreck and was expected to surface 7 hours later. Less than 2 hours after departure, the ship lost contact with its mother ship.
Passengers on board included British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani tycoon Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, as well as Stockton Rush, CEO of the expedition company OceanGate Expeditions, and French submarine operator Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
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