The US Coast Guard is “bringing all assets to bear” in searching for a submersible near the Titanic wreckage that was reported “overdue” as of Sunday, an official said.
The particular submersible is “advertised to have 96 hours of survival time, I think that’s based on the amount of oxygen available in the capsule and so that gives us some time to continue searching and continue using all means to try and locate the crew members,” District 1 Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told Fox News.
CNN reported earlier Monday that a search and was is underway for the missing submersible. It is operated by a company that handles expeditions to the Titanic wreckage off the coast of St John’s, Newfoundland in Canada, according to a company statement.
Assets including aircraft were immediately mobilized Sunday, Mauger said, adding the remote part of the ocean 900 miles off the Massachusetts coast is complicating the search and rescue.
US officials are coordinating with the Canadian Coast Guard and armed forces in the area who have also launched two of their own aircraft, he said. One particular piece of equipment has the ability to drop “sono buoys” and detect underwater noises.
“We don’t have equipment on site yet that can do a comprehensive sonar survey of the bottom, but we’re working very closely with our partners both within the federal government and in the Canadian armed forces and with private resources that are there to provide that capability,” he told Fox News.
“As you noted this is on the site of a wreckage, the wreckage Titanic, and so there’s a lot of debris on the bottom and locating an object on the bottom would be difficult but we will bring all assets to bare that we can to try and find the submersible and rescue the crew members,” Mauger added.
He said if they were to find the vessel underwater, they would need to coordinate with the US Navy and Canadian armed forces to be able to pull it out.
