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Rescue workers reported finding a “debris field” by an underwater robot looking near the Titanic site for a lost submersible on Thursday, sparking concerns the five on board are no longer alive.
Despite worries that the ship may have ran out of oxygen even if it is still intact, the global response’s organisers stressed that the quest to find the boat was still focused on rescue the crew and passengers.
The small tourist sub is believed to be lost somewhere in the North Atlantic, between the ocean’s surface and a depth of more than two miles (almost four kilometres). The US Coast Guard has not confirmed whether the wreckage belonged to the sub.
The Coast Guard tweeted that “experts within the unified command are evaluating the information,” and that a press briefing would be held in Boston at 3 p.m. (1900 GMT).
However, deep water search and recovery operations expert David Mearns, a marine scientist and oceanographer, said the development suggested a “catastrophic failure,” most likely “an implosion.”
“They don’t use expressions like ‘debris field’ until there is no possibility of recovering the troops alive. A debris field indicates that the submersible has broken up, he told Sky News.
Mearns, who was friends with two of those onboard, continued, “The only saving grace about that is that it would have been immediate, literally in milliseconds, and the men would have had no idea what was occurring.
Rescuers believed that the passengers, who include fee-paying visitors, may have run out of oxygen in the early hours of Thursday based on the sub’s ability to store up to 96 hours of emergency air.
However, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger stated that rescuers were “fully committed” to search activities as that potential deadline came and went.
Sonar has detected unknown underwater noises, and an influx of resources and professionals have joined the operation in the previous day, including two more remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) on Thursday.
Responders, which include coast guard ships, teleguided robots, and military aircraft from the US and Canada, are concentrating their efforts in the vicinity of the sounds.
Although scientists have not been able to pinpoint the source of the noises, they did raise optimism that the passengers were still alive on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The US Coast Guard tweeted on Thursday that the French research vessel Atalante has sent out an unmanned robot capable of searching up to 6,000 metres (almost 20,000 feet) underwater.
The Victor 6000 has been referred to as “the main hope” for underwater rescue by experts.
A robot that had already descended to the ocean floor and started its search was also sent down by the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic.
A medical team and a decompression chamber are reportedly on their way to the area, according to Mauger.
On Sunday at 8:00 am, the 21-foot (6.5-meter) Titan started its descent. It was scheduled to surface seven hours later.
But less than two hours into the trip to witness the Titanic, the craft lost contact with its mothership.
It was carrying Shahzada Dawood, a millionaire with dual British and Pakistani citizenship, together with his son Suleman, as well as British billionaire Hamish Harding. A seat on the sub costs $250,000 through OceanGate Expeditions.
Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French submarine operator known as “Mr Titanic” due to his many dives at the wreck, are also there.
10,000 square miles (about 20,000 square kilometres), or about the size of the US state of Massachusetts, of surface water have been searched by ships and aircraft.
More than two miles below the North Atlantic’s surface, 400 miles off the Canadian island of Newfoundland, lies the watery burial of the Titanic.
According to experts, it would be difficult to raise the submersible from deep water even if it were to be discovered.
The Pentagon has supplied three C-130 planes and three C-17 planes, while the Navy has sent a specialised winch system for lifting huge objects from great depths as well as other equipment and troops.
With 2,224 passengers and crew on board, the Titanic sank in 1912 while on its first voyage from England to New York. Over 1,500 people passed away.
It was discovered in 1985 and continues to be a draw for scuba divers and nautical specialists.
At that depth, there are 400 times more atmospheres of pressure than there are at sea level.
David Lochridge, a former head of marine operations for OceanGate Expeditions, claimed in a complaint that he was sacked after raising concerns about Titan’s “experimental and untested design” on behalf of the business.
