Global Courant
It cost at least $2.4 million to deploy a single Canadian plane to search for the submarine Titanic that went missing last month.
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CP-140 Northern Lights departed Nova Scotia shortly after Canadian authorities were notified of the incident on the evening of June 18. Over the next three-and-a-half days, the plane logged 82.5 hours of flight time as crews conducted a visual search and hundreds of “soundbuoy” subdetections to listen for the missing Titan, which likely suffered a “catastrophic implosion” before the search even began.
It costs $29,662 per hour to operate the Aurora, a Department of National Defense spokesperson recently told CTVNews.ca, bringing the total amount spent to more than $2.4 million. The 341 sonobuoys used may cost more than $1,300 each, according to police federal tender files. Together, that could mean the Aurora’s role in the mission cost taxpayers nearly $3 million.
“This effort will undoubtedly run into the millions given the specialized resources expended,” search and rescue expert Graham Newbold told CTVNews.ca after the search ended.
Newbold was an RCAF pilot and search and rescue missions coordinator before becoming a professor of public safety at Algonquin College in Ottawa. Canadian assets joining the Aurora included vessels such as the Royal Canadian Navy’s HMCS Glace Bay and the Canadian Coast Guard’s John Cabot, Terry Fox and helicopter-equipped Ann Harvey.
“In Canada, (search and rescue) operations prioritize saving lives and ensuring public safety,” said Newbold. “The focus is on rescuing those in need rather than determining who will bear financial responsibility for the operation.”
THE AURORA AT A GLANCE
The propeller-driven Aurora is a long-range patrol aircraft that can perform a variety of roles, including search and rescue, reconnaissance and submarine detection.
While there are several types of sonobuoys, most of the Aurora launched for this mission are designed to listen for signs of submarines lurking in the sea.
“Sonobuoys are equipped with a detachable flotation device with an antenna that sends data back to the aircraft,” explained the Department of Defense spokesperson. “The hydrophones submerge on a line attached to the flotation device and flush to an operator-selected depth.”
During the operation, hope was briefly sparked when the crew aboard the Aurora discovered recurring “thumping” noises in the ocean, though it was eventually determined that these had nothing to do with the missing submarine. A U.S. Navy sub-sensing acoustic system reportedly picked up an “anomaly” on the morning of June 18 that was likely the Titan’s fatal implosion.
The Aurora deployed three types of sonobuoys during the search, most of which were the AN/SSQ-53D from Ultra Electronics Maritime Systems in Dartmouth, NS. Both the company and Canada’s Department of National Defense would not disclose cost per unit.
While CTVNews.ca couldn’t find any purchase contracts specifically mentioning the device, similar purchase agreements with a US company in 2022 And 2013 show sonobuoys like these can easily cost more than $1,000, or C$1,300, each. With 341 sonobuoys deployed, this allows an additional $443,300 to be spent on the search, bringing the estimated total of over $2.4 million to nearly $2.9 million.
“The cost of the contracts also typically includes all extras, such as transportation, sometimes in-service support, replacement parts,” the Canadian defense spokesman wrote in an email. “For the cost of the Aurora, the RCAF estimates the annual airspeed (YFR) of each operational fleet of aircraft based on assumed training and operational duties. These duties include missions such as search and rescue support and as such there is no additional cost .”
The defense spokesman said the total costs for the mission will not be available until August or September. Unlike the figure calculated by CTVNews.ca, the Department of National Defense’s figures include only “incremental costs” and do not include those covered by normal operating budgets, such as regular salaries and existing equipment such as sonobuoys.
WHO PAYS FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE?
The Titan submarine, controlled by OceanGate, lost contact with the surface less than two hours after plunging into the ocean on the morning of June 18 during a tourist expedition to the infamous Titanic wreckage. Reported missing nearly eight hours later, an international 24-hour air and sea effort searched for the submarine about 700 miles southeast of St. Experts say the Titan’s experimental design and carbon fiber hull likely didn’t make it to the to withstand immense pressure from the deep ocean where the Titanic rests at 3,800 meters below sea level. All five people aboard the Titan were killed, including OceanGate’s CEO.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is now investigating the incident. The costs associated with the US-led search and rescue effort will likely be covered by US and Canadian taxpayers.
“On the high seas, international maritime law, such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), establishes obligations for nations regarding search and rescue at sea,” said Newbold, the former Canadian search and rescue officer. and rescue pilot. “Under UNCLOS, all states have a duty to render aid to anyone in distress at sea, regardless of nationality or status. This duty is primarily based on humanitarian grounds.”
The Department of Defense spokesman said the operating costs of the Navy’s HMCS Glace Bay are about $47,000 per sailing day and the ship supported the mission for six to seven hours on June 22. The Canadian Coast Guard declined to release similar cost estimates, adding that it does not charge for search and rescue missions.
“Responding to incidents is part of our general day-to-day operations, and as a result, it would be difficult to calculate and allocate costs on a case-by-case basis,” a Canadian Coast Guard spokesperson told CTVNews.ca after the operation. “We are part of the Canadian search and rescue system that operates under international conventions, agreements and domestic regulations to provide protection to all mariners in danger at sea.”
Aldo Chircop is an expert on maritime law and a law professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
“It is a humanitarian duty for states to provide assistance to persons in distress at sea,” Chircop told CTVNews.ca. “It is a longstanding custom and rule of international law of the sea, international law of the sea and international humanitarian law.”
