“Operation Titanic”: U.S. turns to satellite technology to detect icebergs

It was the “unsinkable ship” until it was.

Ten minutes before the Titanic’s maiden voyage ended in a calamity, a radio operator aboard the nearby SS Californian indicated that there was an iceberg in the way of the ship. The warning was ignored and the ensuing massive collision claimed more than 1,500 lives, sparking a wave of maritime innovations: sonar and radar navigation functions, lifeboat drills and the creation of the International Patrol. Gel (IIP).

Now, 110 years after the sinking of the Titanic, the U.S. government is developing a new technology designed to detect and report icebergs to the maritime community.

“Operation Titanic,” led by the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, will merge satellite-based radar images with ship reporting systems to allow the U.S. Coast Guard to identify glacial masses throughout the North Atlantic Ocean in real time.

Floating icebergs like the one that hit the Titanic on April 15, 1912 still pose dangers to shipping today for ships, oil rigs, and military assets, says Kathryn Coulter Mitchell, a senior DHS official. who performs the functions of Undersecretary of Science and Technology. CBS News.

“The Titanic hit the iceberg at a latitude equivalent to the Massachusetts area,” Coulter Mitchell said. “Those of us in this mission space don’t always realize how far south it is, the prevalence of the iceberg mission.”

The 16-person IIP is funded by 17 transatlantic border nations, but is operated by the U.S. Coast Guard during the ice season, from February to July.

The patrol initially relied on cutters deployed by the U.S. Coast Guard to examine icebergs, but after World War II it moved into aircraft surveillance. Today, the IIP pilots 9-day aircraft missions every two weeks.

“Operation Titanic” will mark a “complete exit of [U.S. Coast Guard’s] many decades of flying fixed-wing aircraft to locate icebergs, “said Coast Guard Commander Marcus Hirschberg of the International Ice Patrol.

The “air reconnaissance of the ice” usually adds up to more than $ 10 million in annual costs to the U.S. Coast Guard. Beyond the price, C-130J aircraft flying fortnightly missions (approximately 500 hours of flight per season) are also the most sought after aviation assets by the U.S. Coast Guard.

“We will have a lot more money when we can use these hours of planes for disaster response, anti-drug operations, migrant operations and other areas,” Hirschberg added.