The Bluefin-21 currently
is the only submersible looking for the Boeing 777, which was carrying
239 people when it disappeared on March 8 while traveling from Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.
The Bluefin-21 and the
transponder were damaged this week when the vehicle was being hoisted
onto the deck of the Australian vessel Ocean Shield. The vehicle struck
the navigation transponder, which extends over the side of the ship,
said Michael Dean, the U.S. Navy's deputy director of ocean engineering.
Repairs were made to the
submersible. But in subsequent tests, operators said the acoustic
communications link on the Bluefin-21 and the navigation transponder on
the Ocean Shield malfunctioned.
No spare parts for either device were on the ship, Dean said.
Later, he added that the
Navy recommended that the ship return to a port to conduct repairs.
According to the vessel tracking site MarineTraffic.com, the Ocean
Shield has left the search area and is headed toward the Australian
coast.
Dean said he is uncertain
whether the ship is returning to port, or simply coming within
helicopter range of Australia. The Ocean Shield has a helicopter pad.
"Either way, the ship has to get closer to shore," he said.
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Parts necessary for the repairs are being shipped from the United Kingdom to Australia, Dean added.
Under a best-case
scenario, it will take four or five days to get parts to the ship. But
it could take longer if the Ocean Shield has to return to port, Dean
said earlier.
The Bluefin-21 had conducted about 18 missions in the south Indian Ocean before the Ocean Shield returned to port to refuel.
But the submersible has been bedeviled with problems since returning to the search site this week.
Shortly after the
submersible was placed in the water, Dean said, operators had trouble
communicating with it, and they decided to retrieve it. But while they
hoisted the Bluefin in 20-knot winds and 3- to 5-foot seas, the Bluefin
struck the side of the Ocean Shield and hit the transponder.
The collision damaged the propeller, the tail section and a rear electronics bay, Dean said.
The Ocean Shield's navigation transponder, meanwhile, had internal damage, evidently as the result of the collision, he said.
"The navigation
transponder sits on a pole that is extended over the side of the ship,
and it can track the ship acoustically," Dean said. "We don't carry a
spare transponder."
"Those are just not parts that you would expect to go bad, so they are not parts that you carry," he said.
Dean said some
replacement parts have been found, but officials are searching for parts
closer to Australia to expedite the repairs.'
"We haven't been in the
water for two days," Dean said, referring to the submersible. "We've
already lost two days. We have another few days to get parts. So it can
add up to seven pretty quick," Dean said.
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