Recovering the Titan at 12,500 feet underwater is dangerous, complicated and emotional – World News

Photo: Canadian Press Agency

Edward Cassano speaks during a Titan Submersible press conference in Aurora, N.Y., Friday, June 30, 2023. The submersible imploded last week, killing all five people on board. (AP Photo/Caroline Thompson)

When Edward Cassano and his colleagues reached distant seas, titan submersible After going missing, they quickly learned that they had to do what other deep-sea experts had already tried, unsuccessfully: find the missing sub in some of the most treacherous depths in the North Atlantic.

Cassano told a conference on Friday that they began deploying their own remote-controlled flying vehicle, the Odysseus, from a ship with a giant “umbilical cord” and then lowering the behemoth to the seafloor, a process that took about a month and a half Hour. The news conference was held at the suburban Buffalo headquarters of his company, Pelagic Research Services.

Shortly after Odysseus reached the bottom of the ocean, his high-definition cameras sent back images of debris that was undoubtedly the wreck of Titan. Their hopes of rescuing the submersible’s five crew members have been dashed.

“I have to apologize,” Cassano said hoarsely, describing the moment the wreckage was discovered. He said he and his team were still going through “a lot of emotions”.

The Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic took Odysseus to the search area established for Titan, and the underwater vehicle was offloaded into the ocean on June 22. Returned to port Wednesday with broken pieces submersible.

Investigating the wreck is a key part of a multi-agency investigation into why the Titanic imploded while en route to view the wreck, killing five people. The Coast Guard, which is in charge of the investigation, said they had recovered what could be human remains from the wreckage.

“It was a very complex operation and fraught with danger,” Cassano said of the process of locating and retrieving the debris. “… Sadly, our rescue turned into recovery.”

By the time his team arrived at the North Atlantic site where the Titan landed, there was already a fleet of 10 ships and planes, he said. One of those ships is Deep Energy, which typically lays pipes and cables in deep water.

Cassano said Deep Energy deployed the submersible, but only to a depth of 2,700 meters (8,858 feet). The wreck of the Titan lies on the seafloor at a depth of about 12,500 feet (3,810 meters).

Even after the wreckage was found, Pelagic’s team conducted a 24-hour operation against Odysseus, Cassano said. When tethered to its mother ship, the robot uses its heavy lifting capabilities to retrieve heavy debris from the seafloor, he said.

Asked what he thought of the Titan’s voyage, Cassano said that based on his own experience with a company focused on deep-sea research, he believed the crew was driven by “passion and fun for exploration.”

Pelagic has offices outside of Buffalo and in Massachusetts. Odysseus was built by MPH Engineering in Largo, Florida, and opened in 2016. Its primary use is deep-sea science, but Pelagic Research “always knew we were going to be called at some point, so we prepared the system” for rescue and recovery, Cassano said.

There are hundreds of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) operating around the world, using robotic arms, lights and cameras to work in parts of the deep ocean that are dangerous or inaccessible to humans.

According to NOAA, ROVs were first developed in the 1960s and have been used for military, scientific and industrial purposes, such as underwater security inspections of platforms and pipelines. In 1986, the year after explorers discovered the wreck of the iconic ocean liner, an ROV named Jason Jr. developed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution was used to explore the Titanic.

Andy Bowen, Woods Hole’s principal engineer specializing in ROVs, said that even with ROVs in use for years in science and industry, removing items from the ocean floor is still a tough and difficult job.

“Of course, once it’s done, it has to be brought on board and done with care so that no damage is done or evidence is lost,” Bowen said.

After the Titan was reported missing on June 18, the Navy analyzed the acoustic data and found “anomalies” consistent with an implosion or explosion in the area the ship was in when communications were lost. According to a senior U.S. Navy official Official.

Fragments from Titan, believed to have imploded It was on the ocean floor about 1,600 feet (488 meters) below Titanic when it descended that day.

Stockton Rush is Titan’s pilot and CEO of OceanGate, which owns and operates the submersible killed in implosion With Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, two members of a prominent Pakistani family; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic No. expert Paul-Henri Nargoulet.

company Charge passengers $250,000 Participate in the voyage separately.Coast Guard hopes investigation leads to action Improve the safety of submersibles. Other government agencies in the United States and Canada are participating in the investigation.