The missing tourist submarine Titan is still being searched for: who and what will help in the operation

Downing Street has confirmed that a Royal Navy submarine and equipment from a British firm will help in the search for the missing tourist submarine Titan, BBC writes.

The search for the submarine has been going on for several days since the Titan disappeared after diving to Titanic disaster sites. So far, searches have not yielded significant results. With all that said, search teams will be looking for “cross-fix” from the sound of the impact. During the operation, the rescuers heard certain sounds, but so far this did not help to identify the Titan and its passengers.

“We’ve all seen reports of sound detections,” said marine geophysicist Dr. Rob Larter. “But the fact that the search area is still so large would seem to indicate that nobody [has] confidently been able to locate where those sounds are coming from.”

The chances of finding something on the seabed at depth with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) depends on how precisely the search area can be defined, he said.

For the idea to work, each of the floating sonobuoys must be able to give a bearing. Depending on the number and location of buoys in relation to the location of the sound source, that could provide what submarine search and rescue expert Frank Owen described as “a cross-fix” on the sound.

“It should be possible,” he said. “But [if it’s Titan] they’re banging on a carbon fibre hull, not a steel hull. That’s like banging a log, instead of banging a bell – it’s less loud and more muffled, so it’s not a crisp, clear noise. That may not propagate through the water anywhere near as well.”

As the search continues, unusual details surrounding this story emerge. For example, The New York Times reported that one of the passengers on the Titanic is married to the great-great-granddaughter of the richest passenger on the Titanic. We are talking about Wendy Rush, who is a relative of the tycoon Isidor Straus. Wendy is the wife of Stockton Rush, who is a tourist submarine pilot. He is also the executive director of the company OceanGate, which organized the dive.

As a reminder, the Titan weighs 23,000 pounds (10,432 kg) and, according to the website, can dive to a depth of 13,123 feet (almost 4,000 meters). Diving to the Titanic wreck takes place within an eight-day trip, tickets for which cost $250,000.