A battery of heavy equipment and submarines has arrived in Canada tonight in what is being called the ‘last chance’ for the crew of the Titan tourist submarine – but it now faces a race against time to help rescuers in the desperate search.
The winch, cables and unmanned vehicle, capable of going under 19,000 feet of water, were delivered to St. John’s Airport in Newfoundland by three US Air Force cargo planes.
It was taken with a police escort to port where a waiting ship, the Horizon Arctic, was scheduled to sail at midnight.
But with a 15-hour cruise to the search area where five people were trapped underwater, it will be getting perilously close to the time when Titan runs out of air.
The desperate search for five people trapped aboard the missing Titan submersible has entered its make-or-break days as more ships are deployed atop the wreckage of the Titanic as time moves on to pull off the deepest-sea rescue mission yet.
Three US Air Force cargo planes were delivered to St. John’s Airport in Newfoundland with winches, cables and unmanned vehicles capable of going under 19,000 feet of water.
It was taken with a police escort to port where a waiting ship, the Horizon Arctic, was scheduled to depart at midnight.
Three US Air Force C-17 planes – believed to have flown from North Carolina and New Jersey – landed at a cargo terminal in St John’s where they were met by six waiting flatbed trucks.
Rescue workers are racing against time and wind to find the Titan Five – the men trapped in a submarine at the wreck site of the Titanic. Titan launched on Sunday morning and broke contact with the surface within two hours.
Billionaire Hamish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargiolet, Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush and Shahzada Daoud, 48, a board member of the UK-based Prince’s Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Daoud, 19, are said to be among those trapped. Sub
A massive effort is underway involving various countries to rescue the crew.
Late on Tuesday, rescuers reported hearing ‘crashing noises’ at one point in the rescue operation. The Explorers Club, of which Harding was a founding member of the board of trustees, reported that ‘possible signs of life have been detected’.
As rescuers scrambled to pull off a miracle amid dwindling oxygen supplies for those on board, experts fear that even if the ship is automatically resuscitated as planned, the five-man crew will suffocate within hours because they cannot physically open the hatch from the inside. .
At 19,000 feet, the submersible is capable of reaching Titan, which is believed to be as deep as 12,000 feet below the surface.
Three US Air Force C-17 planes – believed to have flown from North Carolina and New Jersey – landed at a cargo terminal in St. John’s where they were met by six waiting flatbed trucks.
The equipment was removed from the planes by a military loader then loaded onto the truck in a forklift truck.
One load consisted of a huge red roll of thick wire and two large machines with a blue frame and a sign ‘High Voltage’ on the side. Although the cable’s exact purpose was unclear, it appears to have been long enough to reach deep into the ocean.
Another load consisted of two heavy-duty Hyundai winches with ‘6000 kg line pull’ written on the side of each.
The equipment was removed from the planes by a military loader then loaded onto the truck in a forklift truck. One load consisted of a huge red roll of thick wire and two large machines with a blue frame and a sign on the side saying ‘High Voltage’.
Another load consists of two heavy duty Hyundai winches with ‘6000kg line pull’ written on the side of each. The Titan weighs 10,432 kg which means it needs to use both to get it out
Supplies are pictured being loaded onto the Horizon Arctic
The Titan weighs 10,432 kg which means it needs to use both to get it out.
Among the loads was a shipping crate with the words ‘Pelagic Research Services’ – a Massachusetts-based company specializing in deep-sea salvage equipment.
The agency said in a statement on its website that it was providing ‘critical support’ to rescue efforts. The agency said: ‘Currently, PRS is in the process of collecting as quickly and as safely as possible to assist in search and rescue efforts.
‘PRS is committed to helping bring about the best possible outcome in these circumstances. Our sincere thoughts and best wishes are with all the families, friends and rescue workers affected by this emergency.’
The company did not specify what it is sending but its craft include the Odysseus 6K, which is capable of going to a depth of 6,000 meters, or 19,000 feet.
According to the company’s website, the control room is built into a shipping crate, which matches what was loaded onto the Horizon Atlantic.
Earlier, three Customs and Border agents were seen talking to the truck drivers and it was understood the cargo was being rushed through so it could be on its way.
A crowd of onlookers forms at the airport with one telling his friend: ‘The cavalry is coming.’
Shahzada Dawood, 48, a board member of the UK-based Prince’s Trust charity, and her son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, were among the five trapped in the sub.
Once the trucks were loaded, they slowly drove through St. John’s with a police escort and down into the waiting horizon Arctic, which was the reason for the search area near the wreck of the Titanic.
At the docks, a man who claimed to be on standby to travel with the ship said: ‘There’s enough wind and water resources right now that they’re not letting anyone else go right now. There is only so much you can do on the surface.
‘It will be gone by midnight today. It’s a miniature submarine about to go down,’ he continued. ‘They will be there in about 15 hours. There will be a chance, a little one.
‘That’s the last kick. This is the last chance. There is no other option than this ROV (Underwater Vehicle).
‘I hope for the best. I really, really hope so. It will be a tragedy for all if it is not found. A tragedy upon tragedy.’
Landscape photographer Jonathan Hancock, 44, of St John’s, was at the dockside with his wife and 13-year-old son.
He said: ‘I have mixed emotions. It’s scary to think that you could go down in a sub as a tourist and possibly lose power or get stuck in something and know you’re not going to come back. It is very sad to see something like this happen.
‘I have little hope that they will find them. It is small. They are going to need a miracle.
‘It’s great to see them coming home, the US Coast Guard, the Canadian Coast Guard, the military trying to find them, doing everything they can.
‘The boys in the mines in Thailand, no one thought it would be possible to get them out. But the world came together to rescue them.’
Read Full News Here