Search for sub could cost taxpayers millions of dollars

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Titanic submersible search yields ‘debris field,’ Coast Guard says

Updated 15 min ago
By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, Adela Suliman, Maham Javaid, Timothy Bella, Eve Sampson and Victoria Bisset

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1 hour ago

Search for sub could cost taxpayers millions of dollars

By Dan Lamothe, Alex Horton and Eve Sampson

The U.S. Coast Guard, which has led the search for the Titan, has not detailed the expense involved. But an operation of this magnitude could run well into the millions of dollars between costs for fuel, personnel and maintenance. ... Taxpayers will probably foot the bill, experts say. ... “We have no idea what a response like this will cost,” Mikki Hastings, president of the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR), told The Washington Post. “It is still ongoing, so we will likely not hear any totals for a while.” ... Most search-and-rescue operations are funded by the “responding agency,” Hastings said, which usually ultimately means the taxpayer.

The company involved will not be responsible for reimbursing the government, said Paul Zukunft, who led the Coast Guard from 2014 to 2018. ... “It’s no different than if a private citizen goes out, and his boat sinks,” he said. “We go out and recover him. We don’t stick them with the bill after the fact.” ... NASAR recommends against agencies charging for rescue operations, as it may discourage people from seeking help in emergency situations.

Jessica Lamirande, a spokeswoman for Canada’s Defense Ministry, said Canadian officials will have a total cost calculated 60 to 90 days after the mission is complete. It will include all incremental costs, which are operation-specific for extra equipment, maintenance and personnel, Lamirande said. ... That total will not include regular salaries or the cost of equipment already in use, a factor that Michael Byers, a political science professor at the University of British Columbia, says mitigates costs.

Byers, a Canadian defense expert, said for U.S. Coast Guard and Navy rescuers, operations like this can double as training time required to maintain essential skills. ... “There is extra fuel involved in any search-and-rescue mission, and perhaps some extra wear and tear on equipment, but the actual additional costs to taxpayers are not as high as one might expect,” Byers said.

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