Hunt for missing submersible ‘still active search and rescue’ mission, says operation leader
The head of the operation that is trying to find the missing Titan submersible has said that it is still an active search and rescue mission.
That is despite US Coast Guard estimates that the air supply in the vessel would run out at 12.08pm UK time on Thursday.
The vessel – operated by the US-based firm OceanGate – had five men on board when it went missing: British billionaire Hamish Harding, British businessman Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman Dawood, OceanGate’s US-based chief executive and founder Stockton Rush and French submersible pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Rear Admiral John Mauger, from the US Coast Guard, told Sky News rescuers “remain hopeful” the submersible can be found, but revealed the “banging noises” detected by the sonar buoys dropped into the sea were possibly “ocean background noise”.
Titanic sub search – live: Rescue robot reaches sea floor – as oxygen forecast to have run out
He said: “We continue to keep the crew members and families in our thoughts.
“While we are cognisant of the time and we’ve factored in a lot of data and information into this search, this is still an active search and rescue at this point.
“We are using the equipment that we have on the bottom right now, remote-operated vehicles to expand our search capability, and also to provide rescue capability.”
He said conditions for the operation were “favourable” – and crews were making the most of the “weather window and the good conditions”.
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Missing sub: Timelapse shows vessels arriving
Aircraft continue to fly over the area looking for the submersible on the surface, he said, but the “focus right now is on that sub-sea search”, with the remotely-operated vehicles scouring the pathline where the planned dive had taken place.
The vessel disappeared on Sunday in the Atlantic Ocean, some 435 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada, during an expedition dive to see the wreck of the Titanic.
It lost communication with tour operators about an hour and 45 minutes after the vessel submerged.
Ships, planes and underwater craft from multiple countries have since been deployed to the area with rescuers advised by world-leading experts searching a remote part of the Atlantic Ocean more than twice the size of the US state of Connecticut in waters as deep as 4,020m (13,200ft).
Two ROVs searching for sub on sea floor
One of the vessels sent to help search efforts is French research vessel L’Atalante which has deployed a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), Victor 6000.
The unmanned French robot, which can dive to a depth of 6,000 metres (19,600ft), reached the search site a few hours before the critical 96-hour mark when oxygen was due to run out.
The wreck of the Titanic, which the Titan was heading towards, lies at a depth of about 3,810 metres (12,500ft).
While the vehicle cannot lift Titan to the surface on its own, it could help to hook it to a ship on the surface.
A second ROV – deployed by Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic – has also reached the sea floor and is looking for the missing submersible.
Both ROVs have cameras and sonar.
Mr Mauger said it was an “incredibly complex effort to get this equipment on site”, adding: “They have articulated arms that are capable of attaching equipment and attaching a rescue line.”
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Sub search reaches critical point
When will the rescue effort end?
Reports of underwater sounds in the area are still being investigated but it is believed much of it may be ocean background noise.
Asked about the sounds, Mr Mauger said that analysis of these by experts is ongoing.
“The initial report is that there’s a lot of the sounds that were generated were from background ocean noise, but they continue to… look for all available information there,” he said.
“What’s important to me… is that we’ve continued to search in the areas where noise was detected with the ROVs that we had from the time of that detection, so we’re not waiting for this analysis to take action.”
He said any decision to stop the rescue effort would be taken after a “thorough consultation” with the families of the passengers on the submersible.
“There’s a time and place for that discussion. Right now… we will remain focused on the search and rescue but continue to take in all available information as we plan out our future operation.”
He said there would in due course be an investigation into what has led to the submersible going missing.
“There’s going to be a time and place for a thorough investigation,” he added.
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Missing sub: ‘It takes a lot of courage’
‘Sub’s life support supplies are starting to run low’
In a statement published online Guillermo Sohnlein, co-founder of OceanGate, thanked the people involved in the search and rescue – and claimed the time window the people on board have is larger than the estimated 96 hours.
“Today will be a critical day in this search and rescue mission, as the sub’s life support supplies are starting to run low,” he said in a statement.
“I’m certain that Stockton and the rest of the crew realised 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 would encourage everyone to remain hopeful for getting the crew back safely.”
However, some experts have said the chances of finding the sub and rescuing those inside is diminishing.
The situation is “gloomy” and “we have to prepare ourselves for the worst”, retired rear admiral Chris Parry told Sky News.
He said the chances of survival for the Titan crew are “vanishingly small”, given the “extreme limits for their oxygen”.
World
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Conor McGregor has spoken out after losing a civil rape case as a feminist march was held in Dublin.
The MMA fighter was accused of raping Nikita Hand, who was awarded €248,603 (£206,000) in damages on Friday after a jury at Dublin’s High Court found McGregor assaulted her in a Dublin hotel in 2018.
Nikita Hand.
Pic: PA
Posting on social media, the 36-year-old said: “I know I made mistakes”.
It comes as hundreds of people in Dublin staged a demonstration in “utter solidarity” with Ms Hand.
Posting on X, McGregor said: “People want to hear from me, I needed time. I know I made mistakes. Six years ago, I should have never responded to her outreaches. I should have shut the party down. I should never have stepped out on the woman I love the most in the world. That’s all on me.
“As much as I regret it, everything that happened that night was consensual and all the witnesses present swore to that under oath. I have instructed my legal team to appeal the decision.
“I can’t go back and I will move forward. I am beyond grateful to my family, friends and supporters all over the world who have stayed by my side.
“That’s it. No more. Getting back to the gym- the fight game awaits!”
Conor McGregor (centre) and partner Dee Devlin leave the High Court in Dublin after he lost a civil case.
Pic: PA
Speaking outside court after the decision, an emotional Ms Hand said the two-week-long civil case had been a “nightmare” but that “justice has been served”.
“It’s something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life,” she added.
In Dublin on Monday night, a march in support of Ms Hand was organised by the socialist feminist movement group Rosa to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The demonstration in Dublin.
Pic: PA
Ruth Coppinger (left) and Natasha O’Brien at the solidarity march.
Pic: PA
Participants chanted “stand with Nikita” and “no more fear, no more shaming, we reject your victim blaming” as they carried signs and banners through the capital’s streets.
Ruth Coppinger, a councillor and general election candidate, and Natasha O’Brien, who became a public figure after a soldier received a suspended sentence for assaulting her, both spoke at the event.
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Ms Coppinger said Ms Hand was “an incredibly brave woman” and that she was watching the event via a live stream.
Ms O’Brien was cheered as she said she’d been “in awe” of Ms Hand’s courage and that Ireland had let out a collective “sigh of relief” after the jury found in Ms Hand’s favour.
McGregor was accused of having “brutally raped and battered” Ms Hand.
She was taken in an ambulance to the Rotunda Hospital the following day where the paramedic who assessed her told the court she had not seen “someone so bruised” in a long time.
Following eight days of evidence, and three days of closing speeches and the judge’s instructions to the jury, the jury of eight women and four men spent six hours and ten minutes deliberating before returning their verdict.
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