The missing submersible is a small vessel designed to only hold five people for a day — two hours down, several hours exploring the Titanic and two hours back to the surface.
Stumpy!
Last year, the founder of tour operator OceanGate Expeditions showed a CBS team the inside of a submersible used to visit the Titanic’s wreckage. The CBS video shows a small chamber, with about as much space as a minivan.
There are no chairs or seats and the passengers sit cross-legged on the floor, having taken off their shoes before entering.
For such an advanced submersible, the interior is mostly bare and simple, with just one button and a screen on the wall.
The rest of the vessel’s operations are run on a handheld controller that looks remarkably similar to a gaming console, complete with colorful buttons.
- Pipe-laying vessel: On Tuesday, the vessel Deep Energy, a 194-meter pipe-laying vessel with underwater capabilities, arrived on scene and rendezvoused with the Polar Prince, the vessel the submersible launched from at its last known position, said Capt. Jamie Frederick, with the First Coast Guard District.
- Assets en route: Other vessels are on the way, including some privately owned crafts that are “making preparations” to help with the “very complex” search, Mauger said. The US Coast Guard said additional assets joining include several Canadian vessels such as a ship with a mobile decompression chamber and medical personnel.
- International help: French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered the dispatch of the research ship Atalante to join the search, which is equipped with an underwater robot that can reach as deep as 4,000 meters [13,000 feet].
- Joint operation: The US Coast Guard has been coordinating with the US Navy and Canadian Coast Guard since Sunday. Due to its familiarity with the site, submersible operator OceanGate is helping to set priorities, Mauger said. The US Coast Guard said a Bahamian research vessel was also conducting remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations.
