- An experienced deep-sea diver has called for the deployment of additional equipment to locate the missing Titanic submersible.
- David Concannon, who led a successful expedition to recover the Apollo 11 engines from the ocean floor in 2013, believes the same vehicles used in that mission should be utilized in the current search.
- Concannon’s team utilized remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) capable of operating at depths of 14,000 feet, and he argues that these vehicles have the necessary capabilities to assist in locating the missing submersible.
An experienced submersible diver and maritime lawyer is urging authorities to utilize the same equipment that successfully recovered the Apollo 11 engines in 2013 to assist in rescuing the missing Titanic submersible.
David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate Expeditions, the operator of the submersible, made a Facebook post on Tuesday evening calling for the deployment of new gear.
“This is the type of equipment that needs to be on site but is not on site,” Concannon wrote.
The Apollo 11 mission marked the first time humans landed on the moon.
Concannon, who has led multiple deep-sea expeditions and played a role in recovering artifacts from the Titanic, oversaw the recovery of the Apollo engines under Bezos Expeditions, founded by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.
According to Concannon’s account of the 2013 expedition, his crew used two remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) developed by Schilling, a robotics company, capable of operating at depths of 16,000 feet.
At least one of these vehicles was equipped with high-definition underwater imaging and lighting systems.
Footage of Concannon’s team recovering an engine shows an ROV on the ocean floor, using metal arms to clear away sand and attach a cable to the engine.
If rescuers hope to locate the missing submersible, which sank on its way to the Titanic wreck at a depth of 13,000 feet, they will likely require an ROV with similar capabilities.
The French ship Atalante, equipped with a robot capable of operating at depths of 20,000 feet and manipulating objects, has been dispatched to the Titanic wreck site.
Maritime data indicates that the Atalante has either reached the search area or is close to it.
The fate of any potential rescue relies on the intactness and discoverability of the Titanic submersible by Thursday afternoon Eastern Time, when its life support is expected to run out.
Authorities will also require a lift system capable of hoisting the 23,000-pound submersible, according to OceanGate’s statistics.
Meanwhile, Concannon has been vocal about his optimism regarding the survival of the five individuals aboard the Titan submersible.
In a Facebook post, he criticized the lackluster response and delayed rescue efforts of US officials and expressed frustration with receiving out-of-office email replies from key decision-makers.
“The experts who conducted an advanced survey of the Titanic last year are ready to go,” Concannon told NewsNation. “We have a ship off Newfoundland waiting to transport them to the site.”
On board the missing submersible are OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British adventurer and billionaire Hamish Harding, and British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman.
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