The unprecedented search for the missing Titan submersible
The missing Titan submersible: When the Titan was reported missing on Sunday, a massive international effort involving aircraft, surface ships, and deep-sea robots began. In the hope of rescuing the vessel’s occupants before their oxygen supply ran out, searchers raced against a 96-hour clock.
However, on Thursday, officials made the devastating announcement that the submersible had exploded, killing all five people aboard.
As the robots, also known as remotely operated vehicles, continued to search the sea floor for evidence that might shed light on what took place in the deep waters of the North Atlantic, a scaled-down search remained in place on Friday.
The search area included the US Coast Guard, the Canadian Coast Guard, the US Navy, and a number of other government and private organizations. It was twice as big as Connecticut and covered thousands of miles in waters four kilometers deep.
According to naval historian, analyst, and author Norman Polmar, who is base in Virginia, there is no other ocean search of a comparable nature, particularly in light of the fact that numerous nations and even commercial enterprises have been involved in recent times.
The Pentagon estimates that operating the aircraft alone will set you back tens of thousands of dollars per hour. The search utilized C-130 Hercules, jet-powered P-8 Poseidon sub-hunters, turboprop P-3 Orion, and others.
A few organizations can look for repayments. In any case, the US Coast Gatekeeper — whose charge alone will raise a ruckus around town of dollars — is for the most part denied by government regulation from gathering repayment relating to any pursuit or salvage administration, said Stephen Koerting, a US lawyer in Maine who spends significant time in oceanic regulation.
In a statement released on Friday, the Coast Guard stated, “The Coast Guard, as a matter of both law and policy, does not try to get the recipients of those services to pay for the costs of search and rescue.”
According to Mikki Hastings, president and CEO of the National Association for Search and Rescue, saving a life is always the top priority in search and rescue, and agencies budget for such expenses.
“Eventually, these individuals were in trouble. We are aware of the final outcome. But there are people in trouble during the search operation,” she said of the Titan submersible.
When a life is in danger, rescue organizations do not want people in distress to consider the cost of a helicopter or other resources.
Every missing person has a right to be found. Regardless of their identity, that is the mission,” she stated.
