Search for missing Titanic submersible intensifies as oxygen supply nears end

June 22, 2023 1:03 pm

This photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions shows a submersible vessel named Titan used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic. In a race against the clock on the high seas, an expanding international armada of ships and airplanes searched Tuesday, June 20, 2023, for the submersible that vanished in the North Atlantic while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP)

Efforts to find missing persons in the Titanic submersible have intensified as officials warn that the oxygen supply could run out in less than two hours.

On Sunday morning, a submersible carrying five people began a two-hour descent to see the wreckage of the Titanic at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean, nearly 13,000 feet below land, southeast of Newfoundland, Canada.

About an hour and 45 minutes into its descent, the vessel called Titan lost contact with the Polar Prince, the mothership.

A Canadian P-3 aircraft, part of the rescue team, detected banging sounds underwater in the search area on Wednesday but efforts to trace the source has been unsuccessful.

So far, three vessels have arrived to join the search for the missing Titan including a vessel which has technology that can detect and map out objects on the seafloor.

A US coast guard spokesperson said the oxygen supply is expected to run out by 1pm UK time on Thursday.

The estimate is based on the number of hours of oxygen the craft had for the five people on board (96) and the time it submerged (1pm UK time on Sunday).

The US coast guard said the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic, a remote operated vehicle, has “reached the sea floor” and has begun searching for the missing submersible.

The Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic has deployed an ROV that has reached the sea floor and began its search for the missing sub. #Titanic

— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 22, 2023

Agencies including the Manned Underwater Vehicles committee of the Marine Technology Society and former employees of OceanGate, the tour company responsible for the Titanic submersible, had expressed concerns in the past about Titan’s safety.

Fears about the vessel’s ability to withstand the pressure of such underwater depth and its structure to withstand certain defects in the sea had been raised, but were shut down by OceanGate through a lawsuit.

Aaron Newman, an investor in OceanGate, said Titan is built to be automatically released back to the surface after being held down over 24 hours without active control.

Passengers aboard Titan include a British adventurer, a French diver, a Pakistani father and son, and the founder of the tour company.