“Underwater noise” is picked up during submarine search

The US Coast Guard said a Canadian plane detected underwater sounds during search operations for the submarine Titan, which disappeared while carrying five people to the wreckage of the Titanic. Hours later, US authorities announced that the investigation into the water triggered by these sounds had “produced negative results”. Shortly after the sounds were picked up by the P-3 military plane, search efforts were refocused. Rescuers have been racing against the clock because, even under the best of circumstances, the Titan ship could run out of oxygen on Thursday morning. In addition to an international array of ships and planes, an underwater robot has begun searching the Titanic’s vicinity and there is an effort to send rescue equipment to the scene in case the submarine is found. Negative results Yesterday (20) knocking sounds were detected every 30 minutes. The acoustic feedback was recorded by additional sonar devices underwater in the North Atlantic. “Acoustic feedback was heard and will help in vectoring surface assets and also indicating continued hope for survivors,” explains an internal US government memo about the search. Authorities stressed the importance of sonar equipment to pick up underwater sounds when searching for the sub, “which may be at the bottom of the ocean,” they say. Retired Captain Bobbie Scholley, a former US Navy diver, had already told CNN, on Monday (19), of the importance of using sonar buoys to capture Titan signals. “The submersible will be making sounds with the systems on board and the crew will hopefully be making noises as well,” he noted. “These sonar buoys are very good and can detect these noises,” he added. Three US Armed Forces C-17 transport planes were used to transport commercial submersibles and support equipment. The Canadian military provided, in turn, a patrol plane and two ships, having also launched sonar buoys. However, already this Wednesday (21), the US Coast Guard reported that the investigation into underwater noise “produced negative results”. Oxygen The submersible was designed to have a reserve of oxygen for four days in an emergency situation, according to David Concannon, adviser to OceanGate Expeditions, who oversaw the mission. It’s been three days since the vessel left. CBS News journalist David Pogue, who traveled to the Titanic aboard the Titan last year, said the vehicle uses two communication systems: text messages exchanged with a surface ship and security pings. that are emitted every 15 minutes to indicate that the submersible is still working. Both systems stopped about an hour and 45 minutes after the Titan submerged, on Sunday (18), indicated the company OceanGate Expeditions, owner of the vessel and organizer of trips to the wreckage of the Titanic. “That means one of two things: either they lost all power or the sub breached the hull and imploded instantly. Both are devastating,” Pogue said. Underwater robot On Tuesday, France announced that the Ifremer institute of ocean sciences had sent a ship, the Atalante, equipped with an underwater robot, the Victor 6000, to search for the submersible. The Victor 6,000 should reach its destination later today and dive to a depth of around four thousand meters to carry out search operations. The wreck of the Titanic – which sank after colliding with an iceberg in 1912 – is at a depth of about 3,800 meters and at a distance of approximately 640 kilometers south of the Canadian island of Newfoundland. Communication was lost when the vessel was about 700 kilometers south of St. John of Newfoundland, according to the Canadian Joint Rescue Coordination Center. *Reproduction of this content is prohibited

Agência Brasil