US Navy won’t use salvage equipment in Titan implosion probe

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The US Navy will not use the heavy salvage equipment it deployed in the operation to recover the Titan submersible, a US Navy official said Sunday.

The Navy will only use the ocean salvage system if there are pieces large enough to require the use of specialized equipment.

“Efforts are focused on helping to map the debris field in preparation for recovery efforts and to support investigative efforts. Attempts to mobilize teams like the Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System have been halted,” a Navy official told The Associated Press.

The Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage system has the ability to lift an intact Titan back to the surface. The US Coast Guard reported Thursday that the wreckage of the submersible was found approximately 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the Titanic on the bottom of the North Atlantic.

The Titan submersible imploded on its way to the wreckage of the Titanic, killing all five people on board. The debris was located at a depth of about 3,810 meters (12,500 feet).

The Navy describes the Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage system as a “portable ship lifting system designed to provide reliable deep water lifting capacity of up to 60,000 pounds for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy sunken objects such as aircraft or small vessels. ”.

The Titan weighed 9,071 kilograms (20,000 lb).

The Navy continues to support the Coast Guard as operations continue.

On Saturday, Canada’s Transport Safety Board said it had launched an investigation into the implosion of the Titan submersible and had been contacting those aboard Titan’s mother ship, the Polar Prince.

The process comes as authorities in the United States and Canada began the process of investigating the cause of the submarine implosion and grappling with questions about who is responsible for determining how the tragedy occurred.

“We are conducting a security investigation in Canada as this was a Canadian flagged vessel that left a Canadian port and was involved in this incident, albeit in international waters,” explained Kathy Fox, chair of the Transportation board. “Other agencies may choose to conduct investigations and that is up to them.”

The Polar Prince left Newfoundland on June 16, towing the ill-fated Titan. There were 41 people on board, 17 crew members and 24 others, including the five who died when the Titan imploded.