“In some of the steep rugged areas any kind of additional information would be useful to help peer into the dark shadows,” Gallo, an oceanographer with the U.S.-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, said in an e-mail.
There will be between 25 and 35 people on each ship, and crews will likely work around the clock. The ships can stay at the search site for up to 30 days before they must head back to shore to refuel and resupply. [eap_ad_1] “The most efficient way is to keep going,” Dolan said. “But you have to be careful with the well-being of your crews, to be sure you’re not pushing them too hard.”
The work will be painstaking. The ships can move no faster than 11 kph (7 mph) while towing the sonar equipment. If a vessel needs to change direction, the crew must first pull the towfish up enough that it won’t fall to the seafloor during the turn — a process that takes hours.
“None of this happens very quickly,” Dolan said.
Irene Burrows, whose son Rodney Burrows was on board Flight 370 with his wife, Mary, believes the plane will be found. Not knowing her son’s fate has made moving forward a near impossibility.
“We’re in limbo,” she said. “It will be good to know where it is — I think that’s what is important to all the family.”
Search officials are acutely aware of the sentiment.
“We’re doing this primarily because there are families of 239 people who deserve an answer,” Dolan said. “We will give it every possible effort and we think our efforts will be really good — but there’s no guarantee of success.”
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