A retired US Navy captain has shed light on the immense challenge involved in recovering the missing submersible at the Titanic wreckage site.
The submersible vehicle, named The Titan, was carrying five individuals and disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday during a dive intended to closely observe the Titanic. Initially equipped with 96 hours of oxygen supply, the available time has now dwindled to less than 40 hours.
Ray Scott “Chip” McCord, a former US Navy captain, explained to Newsable that only a few submersibles, whether manned or unmanned, possess the capability to reach the depths where the Titanic wreckage lies. “That makes this a very difficult search and recovery operation.
Currently, most of the assets deployed are focused on locating the submersible on the water’s surface,” stated McCord, drawing from his 30-year career overseeing various salvage operations.
If the missing submersible is located, it could potentially be identified using an underwater acoustic beacon from the surface. However, the subsequent steps would involve inspection and the challenging task of refloating it.
McCord described the process, saying, “You go down and hook a line onto it if it’s down on the bottom to pick it up.”
