Explorers Club president: Titanic sub search drones caught in red tape

Explorers Club president tells Nat Geo that life-saving deep sea surveillance drones for Titanic sub search are being caught up in red tape by the Coast Guard and GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw demands answers

• Richard Garriott, president of the New York-based Explorers Club, said on Wednesday vital rescue equipment was being held up by US bureaucracy
• Garriott said that working-class ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) from deep-water firm Magellan, which mapped the Titanic last year, are stuck in the UK
• Dan Crenshaw, a Republican congressman from Texas, said Garriott’s claim was ‘deeply concerning’ and ‘disturbing’ 

The president of the New York-based Explorers Club has accused the U.S. government of delaying the delivery of vital equipment for the search for the missing Titanic tourist sub.

Richard Garriott told National Geographic  he had complained to top officials about the bureaucracy hampering the race against the clock.

Two of the five on board – British billionaire Hamish Harding and French Titanic expert PH Nargeolet – are members of the Explorers Club.

Other members have worked to enable deep sea company Magellan, based in Guernsey in the British Isles, to ship its surveillance equipment to the site: Magellan has Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) which last year surveyed the Titanic site.

Magellan has not obtained the permits necessary to get to the site, Garriott said.

On Wednesday night, a release from the Coast Guard indicated that an ROV from Magellan is en route.  

Richard Garriott, president of the Explorers Club, on Wednesday accused the US government of holding up efforts to get equipment to the rescue site

A Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) operated by Magellan is pictured in action 

He wrote on Wednesday afternoon to Vice Admiral William Galanis, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command; US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John W. Mauger, who is leading the recovery mission; Congressman Lloyd Doggett; and Representative Eric Swalwell, urging them to allow Magellan to the site.

‘Magellan has received mixed signals, first hearing from US Gov to get ready, waiting for plans – then getting told to stand down,’ wrote Garriott.

The US Coast Guard has not responded to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.

Garriott told National Geographic that, even with only 24 hours of air left, it was vital to continue fighting to find the missing sub.

‘Whatever the right thing is to do, we should still do it, even if it’s now at the cusp of fatality,’ he said.

OceanGate Expeditions is one of the only companies that offers the tours. Tickets cost up to $250,000.

The Magellan Argus-class ROVs are capable of deploying to 6,000 meters (19,700 feet) and are outfitted with external arms that can retrieve and raise Titan.

They could be delivered to the site within 16 hours.

Instead of Magellan’s ROVs, the U.S. Navy has sent its Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System, which was used to retrieve an F-35 from 12,400 feet of water in March.

But Garriott said there are fears the Navy’s equipment will crush the capsule.

‘The concern is that the big scooper will crush the hull, because it would be almost impossible to get down under it in the mud without applying pressure to the hull itself,’ said Garriott.

‘Instead, a 6,000-meter working-class ROV has the ability to attach directly to the point on the top of the sub.

‘It’s a traditional method and people like Magellan have done it over and over again. It’s the way it’s designed to happen.’

Garriott’s concerns about the bureaucratic hurdles echo those aired on Monday by OceanGate advisor David Concannon. 

‘We need to move. We do not have minutes or hours. We need to move now,’ he said. 

‘This equipment has been on the tarmac for hours.

‘When I communicate with the U.S. government, I get ‘out of office’ replies – not from everyone, but from key people that have a sign-off on this.’

He told NewsNation: ‘That’s unacceptable.’

This is the last sighting of the submersible, Titan, which was launched on Sunday. It is seen in a photograph shared by Hamish Harding’s company. He and the four others onboard remains unaccounted for 

David Concannon, an advisor to OceanGate, was due to be on board the Titanic expedition on Sunday, but a last-minute scheduling issue meant he was not available. He said that vital rescue equipment was being held up by U.S. bureaucracy

https://youtube.com/watch?v=nW3r01_ZWmY%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US

Machinery needed for the rescue effort (pictured) is currently awaiting transport from the British island of Guernsey

Concannon said that the machinery (above) needed urgent permission to be flown to the site

Concannon, who has previously led an expedition and made multiple dives to the Titanic site, was supposed to be the expert on OceanGate’s journey to the wreckage on Sunday – but a client emergency kept him on shore.

He said every minute counted in the race to find and retrieve the sub.

‘If we get the assets flown from Guernsey Channel Islands overnight, we can have them mobilized on the ship in a day and we can get there inside the window.

‘Now, it’s at the end of the window, but we can get there inside the window where there’s still oxygen in the submersible and that’s what we want to do.’

The US Coast Guard is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada 

The red circle shows the spot where the Titanic shipwreck is located and a fleet of boats and planes is headed to aid in the rescue efforts

Rescue crews are in a race against time and air to find the Titan five – the people trapped on a submersible at the site of the Titanic shipwreck. The Titan was launched Sunday morning and lost contact with the surface within two hours. 

Billionaire Hamish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince’s Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are reported to be the people stuck in the sub.

A massive effort, involving several countries, is underway to try and rescue the crew. 

Late Tuesday, rescuers reported hearing ‘banging sounds’. The Explorers Club reported that ‘likely signs of life have been detected.’ 

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