Search Operations News

Search teams detected underwater sounds while scanning the North Atlantic for a tourist submersible that vanished with five people aboard during a deep-sea voyage to the century-old wreck of the Titanic, the U.S. Coast Guard said early on Wednesday.The detection of the sounds by Canadian aircraft on Tuesday, day three of the search, was reported by the Coast Guard as the clock ticked down to the last 24 hours of the missing craft's presumed oxygen supply.Robotic undersea search operations were diverted to the area where the sounds seemed to originate…

Search teams in Gabon have recovered the dead bodies of 15 passengers of a ferry that sank off the West African country's coast last week, bringing the provisional death toll up to 21, the coordinator of rescue operations said on Tuesday.The Esther Miracle ferry was carrying 161 passengers from Libreville to Port-Gentil when it sank close to the coastal village of Nyonie on March 9.Authorities confirmed six deaths on Monday and were still searching for 31 missing people. Air force…

At least 71 people died when the migrant boat they were aboard sank off the Syrian coast after sailing from Lebanon earlier this week, the Lebanese transport minister said, as search operations continued on Friday.It marks the deadliest such voyage yet from Lebanon, where mounting economic desperation has led many to board often rickety and overcrowded boats in the hope of reaching Europe.Syrian authorities began finding bodies off the coast of Tartus on Thursday afternoon. The Syrian transport ministry has cited survivors saying the boat left from Lebanon's northern Minyeh region on Tuesday with between 120 and 150 people onboard, bound for Europe.

A vessel accident off the coast of northeastern Madagascar killed at least 19 people, and searches were under way to locate 66 passengers who remained unaccounted for, the country's maritime agency said on Tuesday.The vessel, a cargo ship that was not authorized to transport people, was overloaded and water flooded the engine, said Mamy Randrianavony, director of operations at sea at the Maritime and River Port Agency (APMF).There were 130 passengers on the ship, travelling from Antanambe to Soanierana Ivongo, and 45 were found alive."Searches are under way to locate the other passengers.

Thirty-seven people have been rescued from a migrant boat with 45 people on board that sank south of Turkey, and Turkish naval ships and an aircraft are continuing search and rescue operations, the defense ministry said on Friday.The ministry said in a statement that it had received information on Thursday evening that the boat was sinking, 161 miles (259 km) southwest of the Turkish resort town of Kas."Thirty-seven people were rescued from the migrant boat that sank. Search operations for eight people are continuing…

Singapore has deployed a submarine rescue vessel to help with search operations for an Indonesian submarine that has gone missing, the city-state's defense minister said in a post on social media on Thursday."The Republic of Singapore Navy's MV Swift Rescue—our submarine rescue vessel—was dispatched expeditiously yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon, as fast as she could get ready, after our Navy Chief received a request for assistance from his Indonesian counterpart," Ng Eng Hen posted on Facebook."The site for search operations, near Bali, is more than 1,500 kilometers away and waters are deep, which is why MV Swift Rescue sailed off as soon as she could."

New Zealand on Friday launched a review of its livestock exports by sea, after a ship that left its shores with nearly 6,000 cows and 43 crew members capsized off Japan last week.Gulf Livestock 1, which left Napier Port last month bound for China sank after Typhoon Maysak lashed the area with strong winds and heavy seas.Japan's coastguards have suspended search operations, after two crewmen were rescued while another died after being found unconscious.

The wreck of one of the U.S. Navy's longest serving battleships has been found 15,400 feet beneath the surface about 65 nautical miles southwest of Pearl Harbor, researchers said Monday.The USS Nevada (BB-36), which served in two world wars over the course of a career that spanned more than three and a half decades, was discovered by underwater and terrestrial archaeology firm SEARCH, Inc. and marine robotics company Ocean Infinity at the bottom of the Pacific.The mission was jointly coordinated between SEARCH's operations center and one of Ocean Infinity's vessels, Pacific Constructor.

Seven people died and 64 were rescued when a boat carrying migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan sank on Thursday in eastern Turkey's Lake Van, the governor's office in Bitlis province said.The boat sank after capsizing as it approached Adilcevaz district in Bitlis, which is on the northern shores of Lake Van, the office said in a statement. The accident happened at around 3 a.m. (0000 GMT).The lake is near the border with Iran, from where migrants regularly cross into Turkey, heading west towards Europe.

The bodies of five migrants who died when a boat capsized in rough waters off the southern Lampedusa coast a week ago have been found, Italy's coast guard said on Sunday, bringing the overall death toll to 18.The boat, which survivors said had departed from Libya taking advantage of a respite in bad weather, was believed to carry some 170 people. The Lampedusa coast guard managed to bring safely onshore 147 migrants after the accident on Nov. 23.After the new bout of bad weather blocked search operations for several days, on Sunday six coast guard divers helped by a remotely-operated submarine found four bodies underwater and a fifth one floating."We can only listen to the silence of the dead…

Maritime autonomous surface ship (“MASS”) technology continues to advance at a rapid pace around the globe. Although it’s not being embraced as quickly in the United States commercial market as other parts of the world, U.S. industry professionals and regulators look forward to continued development and implementation as a means to improve efficiency and safety.OpportunitiesThe U.S. Maritime Administration (“MARAD”) hosted “Achieving Critical MASS: Spotlight on the U.S. Vessel Automation Industry” July 22 and 23, 2019, encouraging discussion between U.S.

Following reports by two seafarers onboard the Alp Striker during the night of Sunday to Monday, of signals that they interpreted as potentially emanating from a distress flare, the vessel immediately set a course for the area, in coordination with the CROSS Antilles-Guyane.The CROSS called on 3 additional commercial vessels to change course and head to the area reported as being the origin of the signal. It also received air support from U.S. authorities by way of the aircraft Hercules C-130. The search operations led by the Alp Striker, involving namely drones, as well as the operations carried out by the three other vessels, and the flyover by the U.S.

Search teams continue to scour the Atlantic Ocean for traces of seven mariners still missing offshore tug supply vessel Bourbon Rhode, which sank near a category 4 hurricane in September, the vessels' owner said."To date, the search operations decided by the CROSS continues: the Alp Striker vessel – a 90-meter anchor handling tug supply vessel (AHTS) capable of operating over very long distances – is still surveying the area to find the missing seafarers and all merchant vessels operating in this area are mobilized to set up an appropriate watch…

At least nine people died when a boat carrying dozens of migrants sank off the coast of the island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily, Italy's coastguard said on Monday.The coastguard said rescue vessels had picked up 22 people, and search operations for other survivors were underway after an alert was received late on Sunday night that a boat carrying some 50 people was in difficulty.The U.N. migration agency said the boat had set sail from Tunisia and had been carrying Tunisian and west African migrants.Vessels from the coastguard and customs police had reached the vessel, which overturned in rough seas about six nautical miles from the coast of Lampedusa, the coastguard said in a statement.

Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics announced today a new partnership with Hike Metal, a world-class manufacturer of workboats based in Ontario, Canada, to integrate Sea Machines’ SM300 autonomous vessel control system aboard commercial vessels tasked with search-and-rescue (SAR) missions.The collaboration will help develop and demonstrate the capabilities of autonomous marine technology for the purposes of increasing the productivity and safety of SAR operations. Once installed…

As Oceanology International celebrates its 50th Anniversary, Marine Technology Reporter explores half a century of subsea technology development and discovery. Oceanology International Americas runs February 25-27, 2019 in San Diego.When Oceanology launched in 1969 in the seaside resort of Brighton the world was a very different place. For a start, Brighton was home to the mods and rockers, who would square off against each other on the town’s elegant seafront. The British currency included shillings and ha’ pennies and man had yet to step foot on the moon.More crucially…

The seabed survey and ocean exploration company Ocean Infinity announced that its vessel, Seabed Constructor, sets sail from Cape Town to begin the search for the lost South Korean ship, Stellar Daisy.Stellar Daisy sank on 31 March 2017, with the tragic loss of 22 of its 24 crew. The ship, which was transporting iron ore from Brazil to China, is believed to have gone down in the South Atlantic Ocean approximately 1800 nautical miles due west of Cape Town.The Ocean Infinity team is expected to be on site and commencing search operations by mid-February 2019. Ocean Infinity will use its proven approach of deploying a fleet of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) simultaneously to search for Stellar Daisy.

U.S. based Ocean Infinity said it has been awarded a contract from the Government of South Korea to search for the wreckage of lost bulk carrier Stellar Daisy, which sank on on March 31, 2017, with 24 people on board.The Stellar Daisy was transporting iron ore from Brazil to China when it was lost in the South Atlantic Ocean, approximately 2,500 nautical miles due east of Uruguay.Ocean Infinity said it expects to commence search operations in January 2019 using its high-tech fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).

Remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROV) will be deployed to investigate containers lost from a cargo ship in heavy seas off Australia.The YM Efficiency, operated by Taiwan shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, was sailing from Taiwan to Sydney in early June when it lost dozens of containers overboard amid five-meter swells in the Tasman Sea, about 30 kilometers off Australia's east coast.The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), citing serious potential impacts to local fishing and the environment…

Eight vessels were stalled on Friday at the Sabine Pass Channel on the Texas-Louisiana border after 37-foot draft restrictions were put in place this week to allow search operations for a displaced pipeline, the U.S. Coast Guard said.One liquefied natural gas (LNG), one liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and two oil tankers were waiting to leave the Sabine Pass, while one LNG and three oil tankers were waiting to enter the channel, a Coast Guard spokesman said on Friday.(Reporting by Liz Hampton; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

The Indian Navy has widened its search operations for the missing crew members of the Pawan Hans helicopter  (C/s VT-PWA) which crashed off the Mumbai coast on Saturday. The helicopter with seven people on-board, including five Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) officers and two pilots, crashed off the Mumbai coast minutes after it took off for the state-owned company’s oil installation in the Arabian sea on Saturday. According to NDTV report, on the third day of search in the high seas, the rescuers located the last remaining body - of the missing pilot. Earlier the rescue teams of Indian Navy and the Coast Guard had recovered six bodies on Saturday, including the five ONGC deputy general managers who perished and one of the pilots. However, this is not officially confirmed.

Sunk by Japanese torpedoes near the end of World War II, heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis disappeared to the darkest depths of the Philippine Sea, where it remained undiscovered for more than 70 years. Recently a team of civilian researchers led by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen set out equipped with an arsenal of high-tech search equipment on a mission to locate the historic vessel last seen on July 30, 1945. The story of the USS Indianapolis is one of military might, heroism, tragedy, controversy and mystery.

A team of civilian researchers led by entrepreneur and philanthropist Paul G. Allen have found the wreck of the World War II cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA 35), which was lost July 30, 1945. This is a significant discovery considering the depth of the water in which the ship was lost - more than 18,000 feet. Around 800 of the ship's 1,196 Sailors and Marines survived the sinking, but after four to five days in the water - suffering exposure, dehydration, drowning and shark attacks - only 316 survived. The wreck was located by the expedition crew of Research Vessel (R/V) Petrel, which is owned by Allen, 5,500 meters below the surface, resting on the floor of the North Pacific Ocean.