US shoots down UK firms offering to help search for Titanic submarine as experts urge 11th Hour rethink

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The US Coast Guard has rejected an offer of help from a British firm which experts say could provide the “best hope” of finding the missing Titanic submarine as the window of opportunity to save the five to edge closes quickly.

UK company Magellan Limited has had a deep-sea submersible craft ready to support the rescue mission since Monday morning, with the ability to reach depths of 6,000 meters and previous experience of visiting the wreck site of the Titanic.

But the U.S. Coast Guard’s First District told The Independent it had not requested the company’s help because the vessel, currently sitting on a plane awaiting U.S. clearance to deploy, is too far.

The frantic search for the lost ship in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean is now into its third day and the oxygen is expected to run out around 10am Thursday UK time.

The U.S. Coast Guard First District said that after careful consideration of the most effective resources available, the Unified Command — U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, Canadian Coast Guard and OceanGate Expeditions — does not plan to request Magellan because of the distance at which this vessel would be from the region required. He added that the command would probably not reconsider its decision.

British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, CEO and founder of OceanGate Expeditions Stockton Rush, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood are on board the Titan submersible from OceanGate Expeditions.

(Reuters/Getty/WEF/OceanGate)

However, experts have suggested to The Independent that Magellan’s ship could still make it to the search site before the submarines’ air supply runs out. Although the longer the wait, the less likely this becomes, so a reversal of the US Coast Guard’s decision is urgent.

Magellan said he was contacted by OceanGate, the company that organized the Titanic sightseeing expedition, early Monday and immediately offered his services, saying: We are ready to support, and are fully mobilized to help.

The US Coast Guard decided not to deploy the Magellan vessel when the company offered its services more than two days ago, again citing its distance from the research site as the reason for the decision.

Two of the five stranded – British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding and French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet – are members of The Explorers Club, a community of experienced explorers. The group made a desperate appeal to the US government to deploy the ROV with the most experience at the Titanic site and perhaps the best hope for rescue.

The wreck lies at a depth of around 3,810 meters, but the group said ships currently deployed at the site only reach depths of 3,000 meters. The submarine that the US Coast Guard has confirmed has been deployed to the site, Deep Energy, is only rated at a depth of 3,000 meters.

The Explorers Club said it has been in contact with senior government officials, turning every stone, urging them to give the go-ahead and get Magellan to the site as soon as possible. He said he has also been in close contact with Magellan, who is ready to deploy and now every second counts.

Magellan Limited has had deep sea submersible craft ready to support the mission since Monday morning

(Magellan)

Their pleas are all the more urgent following the silver lining accompanying reports from the US Coast Guard that a Canadian aircraft searching for the submarine detected intermittent popping sounds near its last location. known.

The crew heard popping sounds every 30 minutes on Tuesday and again on Wednesday after additional sonar devices were deployed. However, the US Coast Guard said they don’t know the source of the noise.

Explorers Club president Richard Garriott shared a letter with his community, citing reports that tapping sounds had been picked up by sonar, implying the crew may be alive and reporting.

The letter shared with The Independent by Professor Mark Hannaford, a member of the group and founder of World Extreme Medicine, said: It is essential for the survival of the crew that these assets [Magellans vessel] are introduced, NOW!

The Magellans vessel has the ability to reach depths of 6,000 meters and prior experience of visiting the Titanic wreck site

(Magellan)

He added that the submarines currently on site are not rated for the depth of the submersible and therefore MAY NOT WORK.

Mr Hannaford, who is a close friend of Mr Harding, said: Putting yourself in their shoes is incomprehensible, especially for families. It is very difficult to imagine the people you know in this situation – and what they are likely to experience.

But Hamish is so accomplished, extremely brilliant, a great pilot and engineer – if there’s anyone who can get out of this situation, Hamish is one of them.

Alongside the couple on the OceanGate Expeditions submersible Titan are OceanGate Expeditions CEO and Founder Stockton Rush, along with Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood.

The massive search and rescue operation in a remote part of the North Atlantic is entering its final hours after the submersible vessel has been missing for more than three days.

The craft was submerged on Sunday morning (June 18) along with its support vessel, the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince. About an hour and 45 minutes later, the Titan lost contact with Polar Prince, authorities said. The Titan is equipped with a four-day emergency oxygen supply.

The wreck of the Titanic, a British ocean liner that struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912, lies about 900 miles (1,450 km) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and 400 miles (644 km) south of St Johns, Newfoundland.

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