FOREIGN: Things to know about the Missing Titanic sub search

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The search for the missing sub is unfolding off Canada’s coast. Here’s a map of the area

A massive search operation is underway to find a submersible with five people on board that went missing on a trip to view the wreckage of the Titanic.

The Titanic Wreckage sits at the bottom of the ocean nearly 13,000 feet below the surface southeast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Here’s a look at a map of the area:

Coast Guard has shared information about banging noises with Navy, commander says 

“There is a lot of metal and different objects in the water around this site,” he said, describing the area of the Titanic wreckage. “That’s why it’s so important that we’ve engaged experts from the Navy that understand the science behind noise and can classify or give us better information about what the source of that noise may be.”

Technology used in the missing Titan sub is so new that it hasn’t been reviewed

Friend of submersible passenger calls him “perpetually curious” 

Dawood is an “extremely intelligent individual, a very humble man, perpetually curious — that’s the driving force behind wanting to go on this expedition. I think surely he was aware of the risks, and was certainly aware that undertaking a manned dive to this kind of  depth in submersible, is a dangerous undertaking. But he didn’t really dwell on that or talk much about it at the time,” he said.

Passengers will be “breathing as little as possible” to save energy, diver says

Paul-Henri Nargeolet, director of a deep ocean research project dedicated to the Titanic, poses inside the new exhibition dedicated to the sunken ship, at ‘Paris Expo’, on May 31, 2013, in Paris, France.

Paul-Henri Nargeolet, one of the five people on board the missing submersible, is an “extraordinary leader” in crisis situations, a friend and fellow diver has told CNN.
Joe MacInnis, a physician and renowned diver who has himself made two trips to the Titanic wreck, said of Nargeolet: 

He’s been in all kinds of problematic situations and he’s resolved them… he’s the guy you want next to your side in this kind of situation.”
MacInnis was involved in a 1991 dive to film the Titanic wreck for an IMAX movie. He said that the five stranded passengers will be “holding onto their assets — their emotional assets, their physical assets.”
“It’s cold, it’s dark, so they’ll be conserving energy,” he said. “Resting, breathing as little as possible, and trying to keep calm. That is the most important thing.”
MacInnis added that the three most concerning risks for any dive are fire, hull failure and entanglements. “These are the things that all folks who go into the deep ocean seriously worry about,” he said.
“We’re all caught in this swirl of emotions from sadness to hope, fear, uncertainty,” he said of the search. But on the revelation that banging noises were detected Tuesday, he said: “There’s some possible promise in what we’ve just heard.”

Who’s on board the missing submersible

From left, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood, Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush

Authorities said the Titan submersible was carrying five people when its mothership lost contact with it on Sunday, about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent to explore the Titanic wreckage. 

Here’s what we know about the people on board:

Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French diver with decades of experience exploring the Titanic, is on the vessel, according to his family. 

Nargeolet serves as the director of underwater research at RMS Titanic Inc., the company that has exclusive rights to salvage artifacts from the ship. According to his biography on the company’s website, Nargeolet completed 35 dives to the wreck and supervised the recovery of 5,000 artifacts. He spent 22 years in the French Navy, where he rose to the rank of a commander, the website says. 

British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding is on the submersible, his company Action Aviation said in a social media statement. 

Harding made headlines in 2019 for being part of a flight crew that broke the world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe via both poles. In 2020, he became one of the first people to dive to Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean, widely believed to be the deepest point in the world’s oceans. Last year, he paid an undisclosed sum of money for one of the seats on Blue Origin’s space flight. 

The family of Shahzada Dawood and his son, Sulaiman Dawood, said the two are on board. A family statement said the duo had taken the “journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean.”

The Dawoods are a prominent Pakistani business family. Dawood Hercules Corporation, their business, is among the largest corporations in the country, with a portfolio spanning energy, petrochemicals, fertilizers, IT, food and agriculture.

OceanGate CEO and founder Stockton Rush is among the five onboard, according to a source with knowledge of the mission plan.

What the explorers aboard the missing submersible would expect on their trip

• Day 1: Divers arrive at St. John’s, Newfoundland, meet the expedition crew and board the ship that will take them to the Titanic wreck site. The Polar Prïnce was the support ship that transported the crew for this current mission. 
• Day 2: The ship continues out to the dive site in the North Atlantic Ocean. The expedition leader will go over safety information and dive logistics. The science team and content experts will also help divers prepare what they may discover on the dive. 
• Day 3-7: Diving begins depending on the sea conditions. Final dive checks take place before crew members board the five-person Titan submersible. Those not diving the first day “will be incorporated into other areas of dive ops — like driving the dingy, assisting the Expedition Manager, collecting media,” the website said. For those onboard the Titan, the descent takes about two hours and crew members will assist the pilot “with coms and tracking, take notes for the science team about what you see outside of the viewport, watch a movie or eat lunch,” it said. “Soon you will arrive at depth, and after some navigating across the seafloor and debris field, finally see what you’ve been waiting for: the RMS Titanic.” An onboard content expert will point out key features of the wreck and animal life while exploring the wreck, it said. “Enjoy hours of exploring the wreck and debris field before making the two-hour ascent to the surface,” the website said. 
• Day 8: The ship makes the 380-mile journey back to St. Johns. 

Five more expeditions were planned for 2024, according to the archived version of the itinerary.

No seats and one toilet: What it’s like inside the submersible

There’s only one small toilet in the vessel’s front, which “doubles as the best seat in the house,” according to an OceanGate webpage that’s no longer available. It added that when the toilet is being used, they install a privacy curtain “and turn the music up loud.”

Titanic’s fate has long been a source of fascination. Here are some key facts about the luxury lines

US Coast Guard says underwater noises detected but subsequent searches “yielded negative results”

Explorers Club says its working on approval for deep-sea mapping company to join the search

Here’s what he said:

1. There is cause for hope, based on data from the field – we understand that likely signs of life have been detected at the site 
2. They precisely understand the experienced personnel and tech we can help deploy
3. We believe they are doing everything possible with all resources they have 
4. We now have direct lines to the highest levels of Congress, The Coast Guard, Air Force, Navy and The White House, thanks to your support. We continue to work on approval for the Magellan ROVs to be allowed to deploy to the site as we believe they can provide invaluable assistance

Banging sounds heard during Titan search Tuesday, according to internal government memo

What we’re covering

Banging sounds heard: Sonar picked up banging sounds Tuesday during the search for the Titan submersible that went missing while touring the Titanic’s wreckage, indicating “continued hope of survivors,” according to an internal US government memo.

• Dwindling air supply: Less than a day of oxygen may be left on the vessel, based on Coast Guard officials’ latest estimate.
• Who’s on board: The sun is carrying five people — a British adventurer, a French diver, a Pakistani father and son  and the founder of the company that operates the tour, according to social media posts, a family statement and sources.