‘Complex search’: Rescuers yet to find missing Titan submersible as time ticks down
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Washington: A tourist vessel carrying five people on an expedition to see the wreck of the Titanic is running out of oxygen as authorities race against time to find survivors in the face of logistical challenges.
Almost two days after the submersible, known as the Titan, disappeared off the coast of Canada, rescuers had not yet located the missing vessel. The US Coast Guard has warned that its passengers only had “about 40 hours of breathable air left”.
OceanGate’s Titan submersible in 2021.Credit: AP
US Coast Guard captain Jamie Frederick said authorities were doing everything they could to find the Titan and its passengers in the face of “unique” challenges such as deep water ocean pressure, limited visibility and the remoteness of the dive site.
“Our crews are working around the clock to ensure that we’re doing everything possible to locate the Titan and the five crew members,” Frederick said.
“But this is a complex search. It’s complex for a variety of reasons.”
“You’re talking about a search area that’s 900 miles (1448 km) east of Cape Cod (Massachusetts) and 400 miles south of St John’s (in Newfoundland, Canada) so logistically speaking, it’s hard to bring assets to bear. It takes time and it takes coordination.”
The Titan had been in the area to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, which sank on its maiden voyage in 1912. It was one hour and 45 minutes into its attempted dive when it went missing.
Its occupants included British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding; British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman; and French maritime expert Paul Henri Nargeolet.
OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush, whose Seattle-based company runs the Titanic expeditions at a cost of $250,000 a ticket, was also confirmed to be on board.
The Coast Guard received a call on Sunday from the submersible’s command ship, the Polar Prince, saying it had lost contact with the vessel.
British billionaire Hamish Harding, who is onboard the submersible, after a successful flight to space in June 2022.Credit: AP
Since then, the US Coast Guard had been coordinating search efforts with the US Navy Coast Guard, the Air National Guard and the Polar Prince to scan the area, which spans about 7600 miles – or a region “larger than Connecticut,” Frederick said.
But with time running out, the rescue mission has now been expanded to allow authorities to look deeper. A deep vessel with remote operating vehicle capabilities arrived on the scene today and a Canadian aircraft is currently conducting air searches of the area, Frederick said.
A Canadian coast guard cutter and other vessels are also en route, while France’s maritime ministry announced it was sending a research vessel equipped with a deep-sea underwater robot to assist in the mission.
“The idea and our wish is for the ship to arrive as soon as possible, which should be Wednesday at 8pm local time,” Herve Berville, French secretary of state in charge of the sea, told local network BFMTV.
The 10-day Titanic expedition is operated by Seattle-based firm OceanGate and is the only one of its kind. The voyage sets off from St John’s taking so-called “mission specialists” to view the Titanic shipwreck, which OceanGate describes on its website as a “thrilling and unique travel experience.”
The OceanGate vessel was designed to have an oxygen supply of as much as 96 hours in case of an emergency, according to the Coast Guard.
“We know there’s about there’s about 40 hours of breathable air left,” Frederick said.
But even if the Titan can be located, retrieving it will not be easy. That is partly because even the best divers cannot safely go more than a few hundred feet below the surface.
Asked if the navy would be able to salvage the vessel on time – before oxygen ran out – Frederick replied: “Obviously getting salvage equipment on scene is a top priority… I can’t give you an exact timeline of when that’s going to happen. But what I can tell you is there is a full press effort to get equipment on the scene as soon as we can.”
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