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'It's pitch black down there': Search window is closing for missing Titanic expedition submersible
Rescuers are scouring a 7,600-square-mile area of the North Atlantic - and enormous pressure four kilometres under water is adding to the challenge
- PUBLISHED: Wed 21 Jun 2023, 6:05 PM UPDATED: Wed 21 Jun 2023, 11:19 PM
The search for a submersible that has gone missing near the wreckage of the Titanic entered the fourth day on Wednesday, with rescuers racing against time to save the five people on board.
Rescuers are scouring a 7,600-square-mile (20,000-square-kilometre) area of the North Atlantic. The Titanic wreckage lies around 12,500 feet below sea level - more than four-and-half times the height of the Burj Khalifa.
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"It's pitch black down there. It's freezing cold. The seabed is mud, and it's undulating. You can't see your hand in front of your face," Titanic expert Tim Maltin told NBC News Now, according to AFP news agency. "It's really a bit like being an astronaut going into space."
The enormous pressure four kilometres under water, around 400 times what it is on the surface, is adding to the challenge, AFP reported, and added that very few vessels can survive these depths.
According to the estimates of the US Coast Guard - which is involved in the search operations - oxygen in the 21-foot vessel could run out by 2pm on Thursday, UAE time (1000 GMT, or 6am ET).
The vessel, which went missing on Sunday, has 96 hours of air supply from the time it is sealed, according to its specifications. This depends on the vessel being intact and other factors, such as whether the sub still has power in the icy depths.
With the search window shrinking, the US Coast Guard acknowledged on Tuesday that mere locating the submersible - operated by the OceanGate Expeditions - might not be enough.
US Navy veteran Dale Mole told the Daily Mail that there was the risk of hypothermia due to the low temperatures in the depths of the ocean as well as hyperventilation induced by panic attacks, which can use up more valuable oxygen. He also cited the threat of gradual suffocation due to the rising level of carbon dioxide.
According the report cited above, there is a chance that Titan could be on the ocean's surface, but because the passengers were sealed inside the main capsule by 17 bolts that can only be opened from the outside, they are trapped and could still suffocate unless found soon.
Rescuers picked up in sonar devices banging sounds in 30-minute intervals on Tuesday, a development that indicates hope for the survivors.
"The sonobuoys detected noise in the water. We don't know the source of that noise," US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told CBS on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The US Coast Guard said remotely operated vehicle (ROV) searches were deployed in the area where Canadian aircraft detected the undersea noises, Reuters reported. "This is an incredibly complex site," Mauger said, adding that metal and other objects underwater made it difficult to determine the source.
Three vessels arrived on-scene Wednesday morning, the The John Cabot has side scanning sonar capabilities and is conducting search patterns alongside the Skandi Vinland and the Atlantic Merlin. #Titanic
— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) June 21, 2023
The submersible, named Titan, was carrying three fee-paying passengers: Dubai-based British billionaire Hamish Harding, UK-based Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and Dawood's son Suleman.
OceanGate Expeditions, which runs the Titan's trips, charges $250,000 for a seat.
The company's CEO Stockton Rush and French submarine operator Paul-Henri Nargeolet, nicknamed "Mr Titanic" for his frequent dives at the site, are also aboard.
(with agency inputs)
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