Time is Running Out to Rescue Five People Aboard Missing Titanic Expedition Submarine
Search and rescue operations are currently underway to locate a missing submarine that had been on an expedition to tour the sunken wreckage of the Titanic with five passengers on board. And with limited oxygen remaining, efforts over the next 36 hours will be crucial.
The watercraft, named the Titan, was submerged in the North Atlantic early Sunday morning but lost contact with its support vessel, the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince, less than two hours after embarking on its mission. The five people onboard are believed to be British billionaire Hamish Harding, renowned French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, Dawood's 19-year-old son Sulaiman Dawood, and Stockton Rush, founder of OceanGate Expeditions, the private tour company behind the dive.
In a statement, OceanGate Expeditions said that it was "exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely," with both the U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard assisting in the search.
"Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families," the company said. "We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible."
"We are working toward the safe return of the crew members," the statement added.
The Titan is equipped with a four-day emergency oxygen supply, or about 96 hours, which means that rescuers have until approximately 6:30 a.m. on Thursday morning to locate the craft. On Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a tweet that it had employed a C-130 crew that was searching for the submarine approximately 900 miles off Cape Cod.
In a press briefing on Monday afternoon, Rear Admiral John Mauger said that aircraft with underwater detection capabilities were searching from above, while vessels are also searching on the water. Sonar buoys with capabilities to listen to a depth of 13,000 feet have likewise been deployed to search for the sub.
"It is a remote area and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area," Mauger said in the briefing, according to CBS News. "But we are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board."
"Right now we're focused on locating the vessel. But at the same time, if we find this vessel in the water then we will have to effect some sort of rescue," Mauger continued. "We're coordinating, reaching out to different partners within the U.S. Navy, within the Canadian armed forces, and within private industry to understand what underwater rescue capability might be available."
Harding, one of the missing passengers, is a founding member of the Board of Trustees of The Explorers Club, who had previously traveled to space on Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin rocket.
In an Instagram post ahead of the dive, Harding said that the mission was likely to be the only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023 due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years. However, he said that a weather window had just opened up and that they were going to attempt the dive regardless.
OceanGate reportedly charges passengers $250,000 per person for eight day tours to view the Titanic wreckage.
