Submarine missing while exploring Titanic wreckage: Why is it difficult to rescue?

(VTC News) -

Rescue teams are racing against time to find the missing submarine that went missing on June 18 while visiting the wreck of the Titanic off the coast of Canada and the United States.

According to the New York Times , many complicated problems may hinder the rescue effort of the five people on the deep-sea submersible Titan. This submarine did not return from a June 18 dive to the Titanic wreckage at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

There were five people on board, including a British businessman and a French expert.

For any search and rescue operation at sea, weather conditions, lack of light at night, sea state and water temperature can all play a role in whether or not distressed sailors can be found and rescued. For deep-water rescues, the factors for success are even more numerous and difficult.

Titanic wreck. (Photo: CNN)

The first and most important problem to solve is finding Titan.

Many underwater vehicles are equipped with an acoustic device, often called a pinger, that emits a sound that rescuers can detect underwater. But it is unclear whether the Titan has such a device.

The submersible is believed to have lost contact with its support vessel about an hour and 45 minutes into the dive. Typical dives last about two and a half hours. There may have been a problem with Titan's communications equipment, or with the ballast system that controls descent and ascent.

Another possible danger to the ship is getting stuck and unable to float.

If the submersible is found at the bottom, the great depth will limit rescue facilities.

The Titanic lies about 4,267 metres below the surface of the North Atlantic, a depth that humans can only reach in specialized submersibles that keep them warm, dry and supplied with air.

The only rescue possibility would come from an unmanned vehicle—essentially an underwater drone. The US Navy has a submarine rescue vehicle, although it can only go to a depth of about 600 meters. To recover objects on the seafloor in deeper water, the Navy relies on remotely operated vehicles like the CURV-21. Getting these vehicles to the location takes time.

According to the website of OceanGate, the company that operates the submersible, the Titan can keep five people alive for about 96 hours. With many submersibles, the air inside is recycled—CO2 is removed and oxygen is added—but over a long enough period of time, the vessel loses its ability to filter out CO2 and the air inside becomes too life-sustaining.

Additionally, if the Titan runs out of batteries and is no longer able to run the heaters to keep it warm, those inside could suffer from hypothermia and the situation would eventually become untenable.

PHUONG ANH (Source: NYTIMES)

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