While searching for the submersible missing in the North Atlantic, sonar devices registered knocking noises under the water. As the “New York Times” reports, there have long been doubts about the safety of the submarine.
When searching for the missing submersible “Titan” in the Atlantic, emergency services may have heard a sign of life from the occupants. Search teams would have registered a kind of knocking noise every 30 minutes in the region where the submersible is suspected to be with a sonar on Tuesday. This was reported by the broadcaster CNN and the magazine “Rolling Stone”, citing an internal memo from the US government.
Four hours later, after additional sonars were deployed, the knocking could still be heard, it said. According to the memo, however, it was unclear exactly when and for how long the noises could be heard.
The submersible, operated by the company OceanGate Expeditions, set off on a tourist dive trip to the wreck of the sunken Titanic on Sunday. After almost two hours, contact with the escort ship was lost, since then there has been no trace of the submarine and the five occupants.
More ships support rescue operation
The contingent of rescue workers has now been further strengthened. Eight more ships are on their way to support the search in the Atlantic. These included four Canadian Coast Guard ships, the French research vessel L’Atalante and the Canadian HMCS Glace Bay, which has a decompression chamber and medical staff on board, the US Coast Guard said.
Time is pressing: According to estimates by the authorities, the oxygen on board the “Titan” should only last until Thursday noon. An area of around 26,000 square kilometers had already been searched, the US Arts Guard said on Twitter. That is larger than Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
OceanGate again pledged to make every effort to rescue the five missing. “All possible steps are being taken to bring the five crew members back safely,” it said in a statement. We are “deeply grateful for the urgent and comprehensive support we are receiving from multiple government agencies and deepwater companies.”
Concerns about the safety of the “Titan”
According to an article in the New York Times, executives in the submersible industry had voiced concerns about Titan’s safety years ago. “We are concerned that OceanGate’s current experimental approach could lead to negative results (ranging from minor to catastrophic),” they wrote in a letter dated 2018 published by the newspaper.
In it, OceanGate is accused of misleading marketing. Chief Stockton Rush, who is also among the missing as captain of the submersible, was called upon to have the “Titan” tested by an independent party. That fits the impression of reporter David Pogue from the US broadcaster CBS, who took part in the trip last year. He told the BBC the vehicle seemed improvised to him. “You control this submarine with an Xbox game controller,” Pogue said.
The “Titanic” fan Arthur Loibl from Straubing in Lower Bavaria was one of the first passengers on board the “Titan” in 2021. At the time, he paid around $110,000 for the dive, he told the dpa news agency. It is difficult to assess what could be the reason for the disappearance of the submersible. However, it must be terrible for the crew. You sit in a very small space, close together, your feet on top of each other.