Recovering the missing Titan submersible and bringing its crew to safety in time using the latest advanced deep-sea rescue equipment would be an extremely difficult task, an expert has said.
Even if Titan is located, a successful rescue would require remote-controlled vehicles (ROVs) capable of allowing operators on the surface a clear view of the submersible’s location, any obstacles that may be present and where to attach cables capable of lifting it thousands of metres through the water.
If the Titan and its five-person crew did arrive at the Titanic wreck, they will be located 3,800 metres (12,500ft) below the surface on the seabed – too deep for most ROVs to reach. Only a “tiny percentage of the world’s submarines operate that deeply”, David Marquet, a former US Navy submarine commander, told CBC.
The US Navy has such ROVs, as does a French research vessel named the Atalante. Both have sent equipment to the site where the submersible is thought to be.
Another company, the Guernsey-based Magellan, which specialises in deep sea rescue, said it had been approached by OceanGate, creator of the Titan, to mobilise “by all means necessary”. But it needs aircraft to transport its deep-sea diving equipment, and its chairman, David Thompson, told CNN he had not heard back from the US or UK air forces after asking for planes.
If indeed the Titan is found intact, rescuing it will be a race against time. The US Navy’s deep sea salvage system, Fadoss, has previously been deployed alongside a remotely operated vehicle called Curv-21 (cable-controlled undersea recovery vehicle). This 2.4-metre (8ft) craft, about the size of a large refrigerator, can operate as far down as 6km (20,000ft).
“The key gamechanger is the Curv-21,” said R Adm Dr Chris Parry, a former Royal Navy warfare officer. “It’s got a track record and it is coupled to this fabulous salvage system the Americans have.”
That salvage system, Fadoss, is a lift system that the US Navy says is designed to provide “reliable deep ocean lifting capacity of up to 60,000lbs (27,200kg) for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy sunken objects such as aircraft or small vessels”. The missing Titan submersible fits this description, weighing 10,432kg (23,000lbs).
In 2021, the Fadoss system was successfully used to pull up a wreck of a MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter from the seabed in Okinawa, Japan, at a record depth of 19,075ft.
“But remember – it didn’t have people in it,” Parry noted of the rescued helicopter. “It also took several days.” Any operation to recover the Titan would be more complicated because of the passengers, “if they are still alive and they can get to them in time”.
For those inside Titan, the remaining air is dwindling – about 20 hours as of midday on the US east coast, according to estimates.
Even if the site of the missing sub is found, and the salvage system ROVs are deployed – which will take time – they would need at least an additional two hours to descend to the seabed.
“They will have to get a cable down, and then it will be a race to get it belted on,” said Parry. “They will probably have to wrap it around the Titan as they have nothing to bolt it on to.”
Doing so would be very difficult. ROV pilots at the surface would rely on images sent back from the vehicles, in order to control grinders, grabs and other equipment on the ROV. Currents and water pressure make matters even more unpredictable.
“When you are operating at these depths, everything has to go right,” Parry said.
