The United States Coast Guard said a Canadian aircraft detected underwater sounds during operations to search for the submarine that disappeared while carrying five people to the Titanic’s wreckage.
Following noises detected by a Canadian P-3 military aircraft, search efforts were refocused.
Rescuers race against time, as even under the best of conditions, the Titan ship could run out of oxygen on Thursday morning.
Underwater robot, the Victor 6,000, amplifies the search
In addition to an international array of ships and aircraft, an underwater robot has begun searching the Titanic’s surroundings and is attempting to send rescue equipment to the scene in case the submarine is found.
Three US military C-17 transport aircraft were used to transport commercial submarines and support equipment. The Canadian military deployed a patrol plane and two ships and launched sonar buoys to detect sounds from the Titan.
David Concannon, an OceanGate Expeditions consultant who oversaw the mission, said the submarine had a four-day supply of oxygen when it put to sea on Sunday morning.
CBS News journalist David Pogue, who traveled aboard the Titanic last year, said the vehicle uses two communication systems: text messages exchanged with a surface vessel; and safety signals sent out every 15 minutes to indicate that the submarine is still operational.
Both systems shut down about an hour and 45 minutes after the Titan submerged on Sunday, said the company OceanGate Expeditions, which owns the ship and organizer of trips to the Titanic’s wreckage.
“It means one of two things: either they lost all power or the submarine broke through the hull and immediately imploded. Both are devastating.” Pogue said.
On Tuesday, France announced that the Ifremer Institute of Ocean Sciences had sent a ship, the Atalante, equipped with an underwater robot, the Victor 6000, to search for the submarine.
The Victor 6,000 will reach its destination today and dive to a depth of approximately 4,000 meters to conduct searches.
The remains of the Titanic – which sank after colliding with an iceberg in 1912 – lie at a depth of about 3,800 meters and about 640 kilometers south of the Canadian island of Newfoundland.
According to the Canadian Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, quoted by the US news agency Associated Press, communications were lost when the ship was about 700 kilometers south of São João da Terra Nova.
Source: DN
