Coast Guard gives updates in search for missing Titanic tourist sub

10 Total Service assets to search in the next 24 to 48 hours there are two rovs actively searching and several more are in route will arrive by tomorrow morning we've received incredible support with Aviation assets from our coast guard air station in Elizabeth City the Air National Guard and Canadian Armed Forces today there are two back-to-back P3 flights one is ongoing now as I speak totaling 14 hours of continuous on-scene coverage and two C-130 flights also one ongoing now throughout the day and into the evening yesterday the Canadian P3 detected underwater noises in the search area as a result ROV operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises although the ROV searches have yielded negative results they continue Additionally the data from the P3 aircraft has been shared with our U.S Navy experts for further analysis which would be considered in future search plans the surface search is now approximately two times the size of Connecticut and the subsurface search is up to two and a half miles deep exponentially expanding the size of the search area we also have to factor in the ever-changing weather conditions currents and sea states that expand the search area every hour there is an enormous complexity Association complexity associated with this case due to location being so offshore so far offshore and the coordination between multiple agencies and Nations we greatly appreciate the outpouring of support and offers to provide additional equipment the unified command continues to prioritize assets and resources in order to provide the best capability in the most timely manner this includes weighing multiple factors to identify the most effective resources available to the response operation with careful consideration consideration the timeliness of equipment arriving on scene usefulness and ability to deliver assets to the search area over the past 48 hours we have through incredible Unity of effort mobilized and implemented a tremendous amount of expertise and response capability in addition to the ships and aircraft previously mentioned we've dispatched two subject matter experts from U.S Navy navsea supsalve who will serve as search coordinators on scene for underwater search operations so I've been stressing uh Unity of effort a lot in this statement and that's because it is absolutely critical to this complex operation again our thoughts and prayers are with the crew of the Titan and their loved ones we will continue to work as hard and as quickly as possible in an effort to locate them I will take a few questions but before I do that I do want to I'm going to have each of the members the team here just introduce themselves and then I'll go ahead and take some questions good afternoon I'm Paul Hankins I'm the director for Salvage operations with the U.S Navy's supervisor of Salvage hello I'm Carl Hartsfield from the Woods Hole oceanographic Institute uh good afternoon Richmond I'm an exchange officer currently serving on the staff of Commander submarines Atlantic at Norfolk Virginia good afternoon Lieutenant Commander Christy Butler working closely with Captain Frederick from RCC Boston search and rescue mission coordinator thank you captain the others prepare be careful see that kid so a couple things one I think when you're in the middle of a search and rescue case you always have hope that's that's why we're doing what we do um with respect to the noises specifically we don't know what they are to be frank with you um we the the P3 detected noises that's why they're up there that's why they're doing what they're doing that's why they put so in our buoys in the water um the good news is what I can tell you is we're searching in the area where the noises were detected and we'll continue to do so and we we hope um that when we're able to get additional rovs which will be there in the morning the intent will be to continue to search in those areas where the noise were detected and if they're continuing to be detected and then put additional rovs down in a last known position where the search was originally taking place intervals as reported I hadn't heard a 30-minute intervals so here's what I can tell you so I I am not a trained here for underwater Aquatics that's why we have a team of experts that are analyzing that data that data was sent immediately to uh to the Navy uh last night and it was analyzed overnight they're still looking at it but I can tell you that it's it's inconclusive but again I think the important piece is we're searching in the area where the noises were detected timeline you're working on it's a timeline of what respect oh okay all right so well in terms of so we talked about the action number I think you're all tracking the oxygen number I think there's an important point with that though the oxygen that that that's just one piece of data right there there are a lot of pieces of data that we need to consider and you know we're continuously looking at that and we'll continuously uh you know do that throughout the search um but that's not the only thing that's important right and right now our efforts are are solely focused on the search that certainly is a dialogue that's happening um but uh but we're focused on searching at this point oh this is a this is a search and rescue mission 100 we are smack dab in the middle of search and rescue and uh and uh we'll continue to put every available asset that we have in an effort to to find the Titan and the crew members Captain how far down are those rovs and can you confirm that some sort of rectangular object has been spotted that was some sort of report about that I don't know so a couple things so the rovs all each ROV brings different capability uh the rovs that are diving today um well what's the what's the depth on the three thousand four thousand meters um and they some additional rovs that'll be arriving tomorrow have uh additional depth capability um with respect to uh an object so yesterday one of the aircraft uh did see an object I will tell you this in search and rescue missions when aircraft are flying continuously there is stuff out in the ocean that is floating um we went back we looked at it it it wasn't we didn't determine it to be debris we don't think it's it correlates with the case and it is not uncommon at all during an active search to see things and then we go and look at them so when was the noises it was first heard [Music] any information yeah so the piece so several P3 flights have heard the noises um as yesterday and we put assets there we relocated assets immediately with respect to uh food and water it's my understanding there are some limited rations I I can't tell you exactly how much they have a board but they do have some limited rations aboard how can you give them after hearing those noises listen you I think you need to be careful um we need to have hope right but but I don't I can't tell you what the noises are but what I can tell you is and I think this is the most important point we're searching where the noises are and that's all we can do at this point right now so I so I just wanted to so it was my understanding that the P3 had heard some noises today as well but so I do want to take just an opportunity to uh to invite Carl uh to the podium just to talk a little bit about um he has a little bit more expertise and underwater Acoustics and maybe just to speak to that in general because again um you know there are noises below the surface of the ocean um and uh so I'll just turn it to Carl uh yes uh c-a-r-l h-a-r-t-s-f-i-e-l-d so again Carl Hartsfield from the Woods Hole oceanographic institution so the ocean is a very complex Place obviously uh human sounds nature sounds and it's very difficult to discern what the source of those noises are at times but I can't tell you that this team has multiple sensors they're in the area they're sending data back expeditiously to the best in the world people to analyze that data and then they're feeding the results of that analyst back to the unified team and they're making decisions so Woods Hole is here in an advisory role but uh by our expertise what I see is a very tight operational Loop that's making decisions based on data and nothing is ruled out there have been multiple reports of noises and every one of those noises is being analyzed tracked look for patterns and reported upon it can you describe what the noise sounds like that they're hearing uh well you know the noise is again very complex in the ocean uh you have to be an acoustic analysis and you have to have context they're trying to put all the pieces together the noises have been described as banging noises but again they have to put the whole picture together in context and they have to eliminate uh potential man-made sources other than the Titan how many days should be Ocean or even some mammals out there could mimic that kind of sound so I can tell you from my experience with Acoustics that there are Sounds by biologics that sound man-made to the untrained ear but I can assure you that the people listening to these tapes are trained there are a lot of vessels in the area and they each make noise right so all of that has to be eliminated and its analysis over time plus as the captain said it's we're the team is searching in the right area so if you continue to analysis do the analysis look for different patterns and search in the right area uh you're uh you're doing uh you know the best you possibly can do with the best people on uh the case [Music] that was sent there to location can you tell if it's okay if it's on site yet and how it operates and how long it would take to rescue at that which uh system you know the system what's the system you're talking about Fly Away deep ocean solving system that's just a hydraulic yeah that's how a crane yeah so that's right so so that that's a piece of equipment uh it's a crane piece of equipment um there are a lot of pieces of equipment flowing in through St John's right now um one thing I did want to mention I think it's important um some of the ROV capability that's arriving soon is is incred is is really great incredible uh capability one thing I want to point out is the French team that's coming in um to serve aboard with their equipment aboard a friendship uh they they bring some state of the art equipment and um so once they get on we're going to have more assets down to look and we'll continue to put them where we think the best location is [Music] how many days is it just how many days so well so we we have to remain optimistic and hopeful when you're in a search and rescue case so we're in this we're right in the middle of search rescue case so I I don't I don't want to get into a discussion about when that would end with respect to this case what I will tell you though I'm happy to to explain to you kind of how that process were to work um you know the Coast Guard prosecute search and rescue cases on a daily basis and sometimes we don't find what we're looking for and you have to you have to carefully consider all of the factors and there are a lot of factors you consider and then after you consider all those factors sometimes you're you're in a position where you have to make a tough decision we're not there yet um but if we continue to search potentially we could be at that point but again we're not there yet and that's a discussion that we will have with the family long before I'm going to discuss that here publicly yeah so I can't put a number on on the like you know I'm not going to put a person I don't have a percentage number what I would tell you is that that is just one data point and there are more there are more data points than that that we have to look at so right now we continue to search and we'll have that later sure hear them this morning 30 minute intervals just so the the report so the noises were heard by a Canadian P3 and that was this morning and some yesterday I don't know specifically over that 30 minute intervals but again I really think the important point to that is we're in the air we're searching there we moved assets and we're searching there and um and we'll continue to do so yeah I don't so listen I whether it's operable or whether it's sitting on the ocean floor whether it's in the C column whether it's in the surface I you know I it's all speculation and we're just not in the business of speculation we're in the business of searching and we're putting everything we can with the data we have to search for The Vessel I think we'll take uh we'll take one more question yeah so so we um we asked for some additional um uh subsurface support and we got that through the Navy um through a liaison officer he's just one of many team members and uh we're we're greatly appreciative of the British government and all the sport they've given us so we expect a daily update now so uh I think the plan will be to do it to do a daily like this I'm not going to lock into that right now but um but we'll keep you informed and certainly if there's any major developments let you know thank you very much thank you so much for attending today's press briefing that will conclude all questions thank you excuse me [Music]

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Length: 15min 45sec (945 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 21 2023