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A US military plane arrived in Jersey in the early hours of this morning to collect deep-sea equipment to help in the search for the missing Titan submersible.
A Globemaster – a large US Air Force transport jet – touched down in Jersey Airport around 05:15 to collect a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) owned by Magellan, a Channel Islands-based company which had previously been involved in producing images of the Titanic wreck.
The ROV was awaiting approval to leave Jersey to join the rescue effort for a submersible that went missing in the Atlantic earlier this week, but the US government reportedly issue stopped the plan from going ahead at that time.
The rescue equipment is stored at the company's base in Jersey, and includes a specialised winch with a 7,000m synthetic rope which is designed for deep water operations.
Early morning arrival at @JERairport from the US Air Force. Is this linked to the equipment to find the missing sub? pic.twitter.com/4kLfBTsKN4
— Robert Mackenzie (@MackenzieJersey) June 22, 2023
The submersible 'Titan' is operated by privately held company OceanGate and was taking passengers to visit the shipwreck of the Titanic when it lost contact with tour operators on Sunday morning with five people aboard –including British billionaire, Hamish Harding.
The vessel, which had an oxygen supply of 96 hours, went missing an hour-and-a-half into its dive and a multinational rescue mission has been launched involving teams from US and Canadian Coast Guard services and private vessels.
Pictured: The US military plane collecting the equipment at the airport this morning. (Magellan)
Oxygen supplies on board the submersible are now feared to be running dangerously low.
They reportedly received clearance from the UK Ministry of Defence to leave UK airspace, but were not given the go-ahead from the United States' government.
Ports of Jersey stated that they were expecting a military transport aircraft to arrive in the island to pick up the equipment on Tuesday afternoon. However, later that day, they confirmed to Express that they were no longer expecting the military transport to arrive.
However, this morning, a Globemaster touched down at Jersey Airport and was spotted loading the ROV equipment on board.
Many St. Brelade Parishioners were this morning awoken by the sounds of the Globemaster jet as it arrived.
One islander said online: "Wowsers! Woke me up. Wondered what on earth it was."
Another said: "I thought it was landing in my garden, I was getting ready to evacuate the house and I’m near the Lavender Farm."
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Pictured top: Magellan's equipment at New North Quay earlier this week.
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