The search for a tourist submersible that disappeared while diving into the wreckage of the Titanic intensified yesterday with the arrival of new naval and air resources in a real race against time to find and rescue five passengers who will only have oxygen. not for long, more than 24 hours.
Searches are conducted simultaneously on the surface and at the bottom of the sea using buoys equipped with sonar capable of detecting objects at a depth of more than 3800 meters, where the wreckage of the Titanic lies. A French science vessel with a robot capable of descending to the wreckage is due to arrive late today, but there are fears that it will be too late.
The submersible Titan lost contact on Sunday morning at about 1:45 a.m. after diving into the wreckage. If it had a minor malfunction, such as an electrical or communication problem, the crew could drop the ballast and the craft would drift somewhere on the surface, which would be the most optimistic scenario.
Authorities, however, fear that it could become trapped in the wreckage of the Titanic, making it extremely difficult to detect with sonar, or that it could suffer a structural failure causing a catastrophic hull explosion that would leave no survivors.