The clock is ticking on the five crew members of the Titan submersible, a privately owned craft operated by OceanGate Expeditions. The transport vessel Polar Prince lost contact with Titan just one hour and 45 minutes into the expedition on June 18.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the submersible has enough oxygen for five people to survive for 96 hours. At 5 p.m. Eastern Time on June 19, it was estimated that the submersible had 70 hours of remaining oxygen. The submersible has enough oxygen for the crew to survive until Thursday if a catastrophic failure doesn’t occur.
The Titan did not have a GPS or a radio. The Polar Prince and the submersible communicated via text messages.
Stockton Rush was the founder and chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions. Also aboard were Pakistani millionaire Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman as well as UK businessman Hamish Haring. The Titanic debris field is located about 13,000 feet beneath the surface. Each passenger paid $250,000 to reach it.
OceanGate Expeditions stated in a press release that “our entire focus is the crew members on the submersible and their families.”
We are grateful for the assistance that we have received in our efforts to restore contact with the submersible from various government agencies and companies operating deep sea.
The United States has partnered with OceanGate Expedition to assist in the rescue effort. The U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard have been given a C-130 equipped with an underwater detection radar. The Navy also provided a P8 Poseidon capable of dropping many sonar buoys into the water.
Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., a former submariner told Fox News Digital on Monday night: “We have some of the best sonar operators and equipment in the entire world. The first step is to locate the missing sub because time is running out.” I hope that the United States Navy is providing all necessary assistance.
The weather is not conducive to a major rescue in the rough seas that are off Newfoundland’s coast.
The UK Sun:
Nasa astronaut Terry Virts revealed that his friend Harding spoke with him about the poor weather just hours before the expedition began.
Houston’s Virts revealed on Good Morning Britain that Harding texted him several hours before he disappeared, confirming their mission would go ahead, despite concerns over bad weather.
.@USNavy—deploy a nuclear submarine to find our civilian friends @OceanGateExped. Don’t wait, get the best sonar operators in the world in a position to help rescue the lost submersible and it’s crew, while there is still hope! https://t.co/5F9tEqrVAO
— Rep. Brandon Williams (@RepWilliams) June 19, 2023
The U.S. government has been criticized for refusing to use a UK-made submersible capable of bringing Titan to the surface.
Telegraph:
Since Monday evening at 7 pm, a team of deepwater specialists Magellan Limited have been waiting for approval to take off from an airport on the Channel Islands. However, they still do not have permission to fly.
Two submarines combined 700,000 images to produce the first full-sized digital scanning of the Titanic.
Bretton Hunchak, the former president of RMS Titanic, Inc, a company that collaborated with Magellan, said the company had essential equipment and expertise for helping locate OceanGate’s Titan submersible, which went missing during a dive at the wreckage of the luxury passenger ship which sank into the North Atlantic Ocean on April 19, 1912.
The U.S., for some reason, prefers to use an unmanned submersible that can only dive up to 3,000 meters. Magellan’s craft is capable of diving up to 5,000 meters.
Bretton Hunchak, the former president of RMS Titanic, Inc, who collaborated with Magellan last year on deep diving, spoke to The Telegraph.
There are British, French, and US citizens aboard, and every second counts. It’s not a rational choice, but it is the only winch we have and these guys are experts.
Why not operate both vessels? We need as much help as possible, and to deny us would mean you’re giving up all your options for saving lives.
Human beings are irreplaceable.
Magellan is the only submersible equipped with a winch that can bring Titan to the surface.
The Titan crew has no chance to open a hatch or swim to the surface. They would die in seconds if they left the boat at 4,000 meters.
The boat must be brought to the surface intact. This is a difficult challenge.
