Wellfleet company joins efforts to find missing submersible

A Cape Cod-based company is a contributor to international efforts in a remote area of the North Atlantic related to the missing exploratory submersible Titan, carrying five people, that went missing Sunday during an OceanGate Expeditions dive to view the wreck of the Titanic.

The U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday afternoon announced debris found on the seafloor near the wreck matched the Titan, indicating a catastrophic failure of the pressurized compartment. All five passengers were killed.

Pelagic Research Services of South Wellfleet is an ocean services company that provides expedition planning, execution and state-of-the-art, sub-sea research tools to the ocean community. The company sent its remotely operated, deep-sea Odysseus 6K ROV system to the search area, about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, on Tuesday.

By early Thursday morning, the Odysseus joined the rescue efforts with a Pelagic ROV team of nine. A spokesman early Thursday afternoon said the company was disheartened by a report from the U.S. Coast Guard that a debris field that could be unrelated to the Titanic had been found near the historic wreck. The spokesman declined further comment. The Coast Guard said all ROVs on site would continue to be used on the seafloor "to continue to document" the debris and recover it.

Pelagic Research Services said in a statement issued on Wednesday night that it had been contacted by OceanGate on Monday about sending their ROV and team to help with the efforts. The company said it quickly pulled together its team and arranged for the Odysseus to be transported by three U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft from Buffalo Niagara International Airport. The company bases its primary equipment in East Aurora, New York and has a logistics office in Santa Barbara, California.

According to the company, the team and Odysseus arrived at St. John's, Newfoundland, on Tuesday and were put aboard the Horizon Arctic for the trip out to the search area.

The Odysseus could be an important part of efforts on the seafloor, as it is "one of the few remotely operated vehicles that can effectively operate at depths up to 6,000 meters," the company said. That's equivalent to about 3.7 miles. The Titanic wreck rests about 2.4 miles down.

“The effort of the Horizon Arctic team has been nothing less than extraordinary. Our PRS team has merged with the ship’s team to integrate the Odysseus 6K system to commence search and rescue,” said Pelagic Research Services CEO Edward Cassano in a statement made from the Horizon Arctic. “The emphasis for our support will be the unique depth and operational capabilities of the ROV system and the expertise of our team in deep sea operations.”

Pelagic Research Services isn't the only source of expertise that's come from Cape Cod during the search and rescue operations. Engineers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have also been involved behind the scenes in an advisory capacity.

Heather McCarron writes about climate change, environment, energy, science and the natural world. Reach her at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on Twitter @HMcCarron_CCT

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod company joins search for missing Titanic tourist sub Titan