It cost at least $2.4 million to deploy a single Canadian aircraft to search for the Titanic submersible that went missing last month.
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CP-140 Aurora took off from Nova Scotia soon after Canadian authorities were notified of the incident on the evening of June 18. Over the next three-and-a-half days, crews aboard the Aurora conducted a visual search and dropped hundreds of sub-detecting “sonobuoys” to listen for the missing Titan, which likely suffered a “catastrophic implosion” before the search even began.
According to a Department of National Defence spokesperson, it costs $29,662 per hour to operate the Aurora, which logged 82.5 hours of flight time, making the total amount more than $2.4 million. The 341 sonobuoys that were used may cost more than $1,300 each, according to federal procurement records. Together, that could mean the Aurora’s role in the mission cost taxpayers nearly $3 million.
“Undoubtedly this effort will run into the multi-millions considering the specialized resources expended,” search and rescue expert Graham Newbold told CTVNews.ca after the search ended.
Newbold was a RCAF pilot as well as a search and rescue mission coordinator before becoming a professor of public safety at Algonquin College in Ottawa. Canadian assets that joined the Aurora included ships 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,” Newbold said. “The focus is on rescuing individuals in distress rather than determining who will bear the financial responsibility for the operation.”
THE AURORA AT A GLANCE
The propeller-driven Aurora is a long-range patrol aircraft that can take on a variety of roles, including search and rescue, reconnaissance and submarine detection.
While there are several types of sonobuoys, most of the ones 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 enabling data relay back to the aircraft,” the Defence Department spokesperson explained. “The hydrophones submerge on a line attached to the flotation device, and spool to an operator-selected depth.”
During the operation, hopes were briefly raised when crew aboard the Aurora detected recurring “banging” noises in the ocean, although these were ultimately determined to be unrelated to the missing submersible. A U.S. Navy sub-detecting 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, the majority of which were the AN/SSQ-53D from Ultra Electronics Maritime Systems in Dartmouth, N.S. Both the company and Canada’s Department of National Defence would not disclose a per-item cost.
While CTVNews.ca was unable to find procurement contracts that specifically mention the device, similar purchase agreements with a U.S. company in 2022 and 2013 show sonobuoys such as these can easily cost more than US$1,000, or C$1,300, per item. With 341 sonobuoys deployed, this makes it possible that an additional $443,300 were spent on the search, bringing the estimated total from more than $2.4 million to nearly $2.9 million.
“The cost of the contracts also typically includes all of the extras such as transportation, sometimes in-service support, replacement pieces,” the Canadian defence spokesperson wrote in an email. “For the cost of the Aurora, the RCAF budgets each operational fleet of aircraft’s yearly flying rate (YFR) based on assumed training and operational tasks. These tasks include missions like support to search and rescue and as such there is no additional cost incurred.”
The defence spokesperson said a total cost for the mission won’t be available until August or September. Unlike the figure calculated by CTVNews.ca, the Department of National Defence’s numbers will only include “incremental costs” and not those that fall under normal operating budgets, such as regular salaries and existing equipment like sonobuoys.
WHO PAYS FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE?
Operated by OceanGate, the Titan submersible lost contact with the surface less than two hours after it plunged into the ocean on the morning of June 18 during a tourist expedition to the infamous Titanic wreck. Reported missing nearly eight hours later, an international round-the-clock air and sea effort searched for the sub approximately 700 kilometres southeast of St John’s, N.L. until a remotely operated underwater vehicle located its imploded remnants near the Titanic on the morning of June 22. Experts say the Titan’s experimental design and carbon-fibre hull likely made it unable to withstand the immense pressure of the deep ocean where the Titanic rests at 3,800 metres 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. Costs associated with the U.S.-led search and rescue effort will likely be covered by American 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,” Newbold, the former Canadian search and rescue pilot, said. “According to UNCLOS, all states have a duty to render assistance to any person in distress at sea, regardless of nationality or status. This duty is primarily based on humanitarian grounds.”
The Defence Department spokesperson said the cost of operating the navy’s HMCS Glace Bay is about $47,000 per sailing day, and that the ship supported the mission for six to seven hours on June 22. The Canadian Coast Guard would not release similar cost estimates, and added that it does not seek reimbursement for search and rescue missions.
“Responding to incidents is part of our overall daily 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 which operates under international conventions, agreements and domestic regulations to provide protection for all mariners who find themselves in danger at sea.”
Aldo Chircop is a maritime law expert and legal professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
“There 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 the international law of the sea, international maritime law, and international humanitarian law.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government says it is taking steps to ensure tree fruit growers are compensated for past harvests after the closure of a co-operative that had served farmers for almost 90 years.
It says the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC is “redirecting” about $4 million in provincial funding that will be used to ensure co-op members receive money they are owed.
The province says the foundation will pay growers in the coming weeks and then recoup the funds at the end of the court process involving the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative that filed for creditor protection last month.
In July, the co-op, which processed, stored, packaged and sold fruit for 230 member farms, announced it was shutting down after 88 years of operation.
It says it has more than $58 million in liabilities.
The agriculture ministry says it is has also provided $100,000 to the BC Fruit Growers Association that will go toward food-safety certification that was previously done by the co-op.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Jesse Marsch issued Canada’s men’s soccer squad a challenge — get physical.
The edict came after the Canadians surprised many at this summer’s Copa America tournament, making it through to the semifinals. As his players departed for their professional clubs, the head coach wanted them thinking about continued growth.
“I challenged them to be more physically present in the matches that they played in,” Marsch said. “I’ve tried to encourage all the players to sprint more, to win more duels, to win more balls, to be more dynamic in matches.”
When Canada reconvened for a pair of friendlies last week, the coach saw some players had already heeded his call, including Vancouver Whitecaps product Ali Ahmed.
The 23-year-old midfielder started in both Canada’s 2-1 victory over the United States on Saturday and Tuesday’s 0-0 draw against Mexico.
“I’m really happy for him,” Marsch said. “I think he’s still young and still has a lot of room and potential to continue to grow.”
Playing under Marsch — who took over as head coach in May — has been a boon for the young athlete, currently in his second full season with Major League Soccer’s Whitecaps.
“Jesse has a very clear way of playing,” Ahmed said. “And I think the way we’ve been training and the way we’ve been growing as a group, it’s been helpful for me.”
The reward of getting minutes for a national team can spur a player’s growth, including Ahmed, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini.
“Of course that fuels him inside to say ‘Hey, I want to be a better player. I want to get to that stage,'” said Sartini.
Vancouver had six players — including Ahmed — away on international duty during its 0-0 draw against Dallas FC on Saturday. The absences are a good problem to have, Sartini said.
“Because we have players that are close to the national team, we have a lot of players that development is faster, better, bigger than it would have been if they hadn’t been called,” he said.
Born in Toronto, Ahmed came up through the Whitecaps’ academy system and played for Vancouver’s MLS Next Pro side before cementing his spot on the first team in 2023. He put up two goals and two assists across 22 regular-season games, and added another goal and another helper in 19 appearances this year.
Taking the next step will require the five-foot-11, 154-pound Ahmed to push himself physically, Marsch said.
“Tactically, he’s technically gifted,” the coach said. “I’ve told him he’s got to get in the gym more.
“There’s a lot of these little things where too many guys, they still look like kids and we need to help them look like men and play like men. And that’s what the high standards of the game are about.”
Marsch has quickly adjusted to recalibrating standards in his short time with Team Canada. Since taking over the squad in May, the coach said he’s learned the players are smarter and more capable than he originally thought, which forces the coach to constantly recalibrate his standards.
“That’s my job right now, to keep raising the level of the demands,” he said.
The way 40th-ranked Canada is viewed on the international stage is evolving, too.
“I think we’re changing the perception on the way we’re playing now,” he said. “I think beating the U.S. — it would have been nice to beat Mexico as well — the way we did, the way that we performed at Copa, I think teams are starting to look at us differently.
“Right now, I think we’re focused on ourselves. We’re definitely trying to be the best in CONCACAF and we have higher goals as well.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
An investigator gave the World Anti-Doping Agency a pass on its handling of the inflammatory case involving Chinese swimmers, but not without hammering away at the “curious” nature of WADA’s “silence” after examining Chinese actions that did not follow rules designed to safeguard global sports.
WADA on Thursday released the full decision from Eric Cottier, the Swiss investigator it appointed to analyze its handling of the case involving the 23 Chinese swimmers who remained eligible despite testing positive for performance enhancers in 2021.
In echoing wording from an interim report issued earlier this summer, Cottier said it was “reasonable” that WADA chose not to appeal the Chinese anti-doping agency’s explanation that the positives came from contamination.
“Taking into consideration the particularities of the case, (WADA) appears … to have acted in accordance with the rules it has itself laid out for anti-doping organizations,” Cottier wrote.
But peppered throughout his granular, 56-page analysis of the case was evidence and reminders of how WADA disregarded some of China’s violations of anti-doping protocols. Cottier concluded this happened more for the sake of expediency than to show favoritism toward the Chinese.
“In retrospect at least, the Agency’s silence is curious, in the face of a procedure that does not respect the fundamental rules, and its lack of reaction is surprising,” Cottier wrote of WADA’s lack of fealty to the world anti-doping code.
Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and one of WADA’s fiercest critics, latched onto this dynamic, saying Cottier’s information “clearly shows that China did not follow the rules, and that WADA management did nothing about it.”
One of the chief complaints over the handling of this case was that neither WADA nor the Chinese gave any public notice upon learning of the positive tests for the banned heart medication Temozolomide, known as TMZ.
The athletes also were largely kept in the dark and the burden to prove their innocence was taken up by Chinese authorities, not the athletes themselves, which runs counter to what the rulebook demands.
Despite the criticisms, WADA generally welcomed the report.
“Above all, (Cottier) reiterated that WADA showed no bias towards China and that its decision not to appeal the cases was reasonable based on the evidence,” WADA director general Olivier Niggli said. “There are however certainly lessons to be learned by WADA and others from this situation.”
Tygart said “this report validates our concerns and only raises new questions that must be answered.”
Cottier expanded on doubts WADA’s own chief scientist, Olivier Rabin, had expressed over the Chinese contamination theory — snippets of which were introduced in the interim report. Rabin was wary of the idea that “a few micrograms” of TMZ found in the kitchen at the hotel where the swimmers stayed could be enough to cause the group contamination.
“Since he was not in a position to exclude the scenario of contamination with solid evidence, he saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities,” Cottier wrote.
Though recommendations for changes had been expected in the report, Cottier made none, instead referring to several comments he’d made earlier in the report.
Key among them were his misgivings that a case this big was largely handled in private — a breach of custom, if not the rules themselves — both while China was investigating and after the file had been forwarded to WADA. Not until the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD reported on the positives were any details revealed.
“At the very least, the extraordinary nature of the case (23 swimmers, including top-class athletes, 28 positive tests out of 60 for a banned substance of therapeutic origin, etc.), could have led to coordinated and concerted reflection within the Agency, culminating in a formal and clearly expressed decision to take no action,” the report said.
WADA’s executive committee established a working group to address two more of Cottier’s criticisms — the first involving what he said was essentially WADA’s sloppy recordkeeping and lack of formal protocol, especially in cases this complex; and the second a need to better flesh out rules for complex cases involving group contamination.
