The United States Navy is moving ahead of the game in the search for the Titanic sub that has gone missing, sending a deep ocean lifting device in the hopes that the vessel will be discovered and rescued.
According to a Navy spokesperson, the marine force is sending the Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System, working with professionals in the field, to locate OceanGate Expeditions’ lost Titan vessel and plan how to bring it to the surface.
The US Coast Guard established a unified command Monday to coordinate rescue efforts between the US and Canadian coast guards, the US Navy, and the Canadian armed forces. Capt. Jamie Frederick said during a First Coast Guard District news conference Monday that the unified command is working with the US Navy and TRANSCOM to determine which maritime assets to send.
“This is a complex search effort, which requires the use of subject matter expertise and specialized equipment,” Frederick said. “While the U.S. Coast Guard has assumed the role of search and rescue mission coordinator, we do not have all of the necessary expertise and equipment required in a search of this nature. The unified command brings that expertise and additional capability together to maximize effort in solving this very complex problem.”
The Navy is sending a Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System, as well as subject matter experts, the sea service said in a Tuesday afternoon statement.
The Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System is a “motion compensated lift system designed to provide reliable deep ocean lifting capacity for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy undersea objects such as aircraft or small vessels,” according to the statement.
The surface search has included aircraft from the Canadian Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Air Force. C-140 Aurora anti-submarine warfare aircraft have deployed sonobuoys in an attempt to locate Titan and the five people on board.
