[ad_1]
Robot vehicles deployed as Titan’s oxygen supplies estimate to be exhausted
Here’s a look at the main developments of the morning:
-
Two remotely operated vehicles have been deployed as part of the search effort
-
According to US coast guard estimates, Titan’s 96 hours of breathable oxygen supplies are thought to be exhausted – although these are just estimates and much will depend on measure the passengers have taken to conserve air
-
Experts say it’s still unclear whether the submersible is on the surface on the seabed, and warn “weeks of intense survey” may be required to locate it
-
A British submariner and equipment from a UK firm will help the search for the missing submersible
Key events
Here are some pictures from the newswires of the headquarters of OceanGate, the company behind the missing Titan sub, in Everett, Washington.
Missing crew have longer ‘time window available’ than others believe, says OceanGate co-founder
The co-founder of OceanGate, the company that operates the missing sub, has broken his silence to say he believes the five crew members on board Titan have “longer than what most people think”.
Guillermo Söhnlein, who founded OceanGate with Stockton Rush, one of the passengers aboard the Titan, said he last spoke to Rush a couple of weeks before the expedition’s launch.
In a statement to Insider, Sohnlein, who is no longer involved with the company but remains a minority shareholder, said:
Today will be a critical day in this search and rescue mission, as the sub’s life support supplies are starting to run low.
I’m certain that Stockton and the rest of the crew realized days ago that the best thing they can do to ensure their rescue is to extend the limits of those supplies by relaxing as much as possible. I firmly believe that the time window available for their rescue is longer than what most people think. I continue to hold out hope for my friend and the rest of the crew.
He said he encouraged everyone to “remain hopeful” for getting the missing sub back safely and that he continued to “hold out hope” for his friend and the rest of the crew.
Rear Adm John Mauger of the US Coast Guard said he was “thrilled and pleased” to have a British submariner involved in the search operation.
Earlier we reported that Downing Street had confirmed that a Royal Navy submariner had joined the search for the missing Titan submersible.
The officer, Lt Cmdr Richard Kantharia, “has significant knowledge of submarine warfare and dived operations and so he will obviously be bringing that experience to the search and rescue team”, No 10 said.
Mauger, speaking to Sky News, said he “really appreciate[s] the support from UK submarine force”.
The US Coast Guard has provided an update on current weather conditions for search teams looking for the missing sub.
Rear Adm John Mauger of the US Coast Guard, who is leading the search for Titan, has described the conditions as “favourable” and said crews are “making the most of this weather window and the good conditions”.
Weather on scene: winds at 14 mph with gusts up to 19mph. Sea state is 4-5ft swells with an air temp of 50°f. #Titanic
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 22, 2023
The disappearance of the submersible will have affected the chances of future research being carried out at the wreck of the Titanic, according to an expert.
David Scott-Beddard, the CEO of Titanic exhibition company White Star Memories Ltd, told CNN that the incident has “without a doubt” impacted opportunities to visit and study the wreckage. He said:
The chances of any future research being carried out on the wreck of Titanic is extremely slim. Probably not in my lifetime.
The Titanic wreck is “one of those unreachable, unattainable things for most of us”, he said.
She sits majestically on the sea bed; (it’s) incredibly rare for a ship that sunk to be sitting upright.
Search teams ‘remain hopeful at this point’, says US Coast Guard
Rescue teams are continuing to carry out “an active search and rescue operation” for the missing Titan submersible, US Coast Guard officials said.
Rear Adm John Mauger, speaking to Sky News, said teams were making the most of the “favourable” weather conditions. He said:
While we’re cognizant of the time, and we’ve factored in a lot of data and information into the search, this is still an active search and rescue at this point.
We’re using the equipment that we have on at the bottom of the ROVS to expand our search capabilities.
Asked when rescuers might consider the situation is “beyond all hope”, Mauger said “there is a time and place for that discussion” but that the focus of the unified command team was “on using the capability that we have now on site to locate the people and the submersible”.
Teenager on board missing sub is student at university in Glasgow
Severin Carrell
Suleman Dawood, one of the five men missing on the submersible dive to visit the Titanic, has been identified as a university student in Glasgow.
The University of Strathclyde confirmed that Dawood, 19, was one of its students with Strathclyde Business School, and had just completed his first year.
“We are deeply concerned about Suleman, his father and the others involved in this incident,” a university spokesperson said.
Our thoughts are with their families and loved ones and we continue to hope for a positive outcome.
Dawood is the son of Shahzada Dawood, 48, a billionaire businessman who lives in Surbiton, south-west London, who is originally from Pakistan but now has British citizenship.
Suleman Dawood has a sister, Alina, and his mother has been named as Christine. The family had been living in Canada for several weeks before the dive.
Earlier this week a family statement described Suleman as a “big fan of science fiction literature and learning new things”, who was also keen on Rubik’s cubes and playing volleyball.
He had recently graduated from ACS International School Cobham in Surrey.
Robot vehicles deployed as Titan’s oxygen supplies estimate to be exhausted
Here’s a look at the main developments of the morning:
-
Two remotely operated vehicles have been deployed as part of the search effort
-
According to US coast guard estimates, Titan’s 96 hours of breathable oxygen supplies are thought to be exhausted – although these are just estimates and much will depend on measure the passengers have taken to conserve air
-
Experts say it’s still unclear whether the submersible is on the surface on the seabed, and warn “weeks of intense survey” may be required to locate it
-
A British submariner and equipment from a UK firm will help the search for the missing submersible
Two remote-controlled deep-sea diving vehicles deployed
According to the US Coast Guard, two remotely operated vehicles have just been deployed in the search effort
The French vessel L’Atalante has just deployed their ROV. #Titanic
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 22, 2023
The Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic has deployed an ROV that has reached the sea floor and began its search for the missing sub. #Titanic
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 22, 2023
Ryan Ramsey, a former Royal Navy submarine captain, has described the current situation as “bleak” as the search-and-rescue operation continues for Titan after oxygen is thought to have run out aboard the submersible.
He told the PA news agency:
The outlook is bleak, that’s the only word for it, as this tragic event unfolds and almost the closing stages of where this changes from rescue to a salvage mission.
That doesn’t mean to say that the current ships and forces deployed won’t continue to keep looking.
They won’t stop for many days, I imagine, but the reality is if you base it off oxygen alone, then they’re out of oxygen.
Carbon dioxide is also a critical element to it as well as the cold. It would be a miracle if there were survivors from it.
Update: the ship carrying the Victor 6000 deep-sea robot has arrived at the Titan search zone, according to Ifremer, the state-run French ocean research institute that operates the robot. The research vessel Atalante is first using an echo-sounder to accurately map the seabed in order for the robot’s search to be more targeted, Ifremer said.
A British submariner and equipment from a UK firm will help the search for the missing Titan submersible, Downing Street has said.
A No 10 spokesman said: “At the request of US Coastguard, the UK has embedded a Royal Navy submariner to assist the search and rescue effort for the missing submarine.
The officer, Lt Cmdr Richard Kantharia, “has significant knowledge of submarine warfare and dived operations and so he will obviously be bringing that experience to the search and rescue team”.
The officer was on exchange with the US navy and has been seconded to the search and rescue team.
A British C-17 aircraft will transport “specialist commercial equipment” provided by Magellan to St John’s in Newfoundland to assist with the search-and-rescue effort.
(Via PA)
[ad_2]
Source link
