BOSTON – The unified command continues search efforts of the 21-foot submersible research vessel, Titan, from the Research Vessel Polar Prince that went missing Sunday evening.
The Canadian Coast Guard boat John Cabot, a vessel with sonar capabilities, arrived on-scene Wednesday morning along with commercial vessels Skandi Vinland and the Atlantic Merlin. A Coast Guard C-130 crew also arrived on scene to continue searching.
Underwater sounds have been detected in the search area, resulting in the redirection of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations to explore the origin. These recordings have been shared with the U.S. Navy for analysis to help guide future search efforts.
The following additional assets are en route:
- Canadian CGS Ann Harvey
- Canadian CGS Terry Fox
- Motor Vessel Horizon Arctic (ROV)
- French Research Vessel L’Atalante (ROV)
- His Majesty's Canadian Ship Glace Bay (mobile decompression chamber and medical personnel)
- Air National Guard C-130
- ROV from Magellan
The unified command considers all ROV options based on capability, on scene time availability and logistical concerns. Along with vessels already on scene, Magellan will be providing one of their ROVs in the near future.
The Navy is sending subject matter experts and a Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS), a motion-compensated lift system designed to provide reliable deep ocean lifting capacity for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy undersea objects such as aircraft or small vessels, from Navy Supervisor of Salvage. Expertise and equipment will support the unified command. Personnel and equipment are scheduled to arrive at St. John’s tonight.
On June 18 at 5:40 p.m. EDT, the Coast Guard received a report on an overdue 21-foot submersible from the Canadian Research Vessel POLAR PRINCE with five people on board, diving to view the wreckage of the Titanic, approximately 900 nautical miles East of Cape Cod.
The submersible was launched at 8 a.m. EDT and expected to resurface at 3 p.m., but one hour and 45 minutes into their dive, they lost contact with the Polar Prince. The Coast Guard is working with international partners to effectively utilize all resources available