The recent news of a missing submersible imploding near the Titanic wreckage, killing all five people on board, has sent shockwaves throughout the maritime community. The U. S. Coast Guard reported that the debris found during a one-day search for the Titan is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel.
According to Canada's Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the ship was located about 435 miles south of St. John's (Newfoundland).The Titan was estimated to have a breathing air supply for about four days when it launched on Sunday morning in the North Atlantic. However, experts have emphasized that at first it was an imprecise approach and that it would have been expanded if passengers had taken steps to conserve breathable air. Rescue teams brought ships, planes, and other equipment to the scene of the disappearance. The Coast Guard said an underwater robot sent by a Canadian ship had reached the bottom of the sea, while a French research institute said a deep-diving robot with cameras, lights and arms also joined the operation.
John Mauger, of the First Coast Guard District, said it was too early to say if the implosion occurred at the time of the submersible's last communication on Sunday. A senior military official stated that a U. Navy acoustic system detected an “anomaly” on Sunday that was likely the fatal implosion of the Titan. The Navy returned and analyzed its acoustic data after the Titan was reported missing. That anomaly was “consistent with an implosion or explosion in the general vicinity of where the submersible Titan was operating when communications were lost”, according to the official. The Navy transmitted this information to the Coast Guard, which continued its search because the Navy did not consider the data to be definitive.
A renowned expert on the Titanic, an adventurer with world records, two members of one of the richest families in Pakistan, and the CEO of the company that led an expedition to the most famous shipwreck in the world lost their lives on this submersible expedition. Rob Larter, a marine geophysicist with the British Antarctic Survey, emphasized how difficult it is to find something as small as a submersible - measuring about 22 feet long and 9 feet high - in such vast waters. Nicolai Roterman, a deep-sea ecologist and professor of marine biology at the University of Portsmouth (England), said that this incident highlights both dangers and unknowns of deep-sea tourism. The Coast Guard will continue to search for more clues about what happened to this naval ship near Titanic wreckage. Efforts to recover both submersible and remains of five men who died will also continue, according to Mauger. Officials say there is no deadline to cancel this massive international search and that possibility of finding or recovering remains is unknown. The engineering professor and president of Bollinger School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at University of New Orleans stated that it would not sink in a submersible that was not tied to mothership - which is not case with Titan.
Harding is an avid adventurer who has traveled to space aboard Blue Origin flight last year and Challenger Deep in Pacific Ocean - believed to be deepest point in world. In light of this tragedy, it is important for all naval ships to take safety measures seriously. This includes ensuring that all personnel are properly trained in emergency procedures and that all equipment is regularly inspected for any potential issues. Additionally, ships should have adequate supplies of breathable air onboard in case of emergency situations. Finally, ships should always be aware of their surroundings and take necessary precautions when operating near hazardous areas such as deep-sea wrecks.
