Missing Titanic submersible: Search efforts on with just hours of air as 96-hr life window closes

Connecticut: A desperate search is underway to rescue the Titanic-bound submersible with five people in it as the 96-hour life window closes in dangerously. The search area has been doubled in last-ditch efforts and authorities engaged in the rescue operations were still holding out hope, vowing to every available asset into the mission.

Captain Jamie Frederick of the First Coast Guard District said the crews were scouring an area twice the size of Connecticut in waters 2 1/2 miles deep. The Associated Press quoted him as saying, “This is a search and rescue mission, 100%,” he said. ”… We’ll continue to put every available asset that we have in an effort to find the Titan and the crew members.”

With the submersible’s oxygen supply expected to run out in a few hours, the area for the international search operation doubled to ‘twice the size of the US state of Connecticut’. The US Coast Guard said remotely operated vehicles (ROV) were deployed underwater near where Canadian aircraft recorded the noises using sonar buoys on Tuesday and Wednesday but have not found any sign of the Titan yet, Reuters reported.

As the 96-hour life window closes in with just a few hours of oxygen left in the sub, experts warned that the odds of survival of the passengers were low. It has been pointed out that several obstacles remain. From pinpointing the vessel’s location to reaching it with rescue equipment to bringing it to the surface – if it’s still intact, everything has to be done before the passengers’ oxygen supply runs out. However, Capt Marquet said there are better chances now as the equipment needed to raise the Titan is now on its way to the area. “It’ll be desperately close because it needs to be found before then,” he said.

The operation of the missing submersible and its rescue operation’s race against time has been riveting onlookers. People have been glued to their television screens, fascinated by maritime experts detailing the hurdles for rescue efforts in a vast expanse of sea.

Experts had raised safety concerns about the submersible vessel in 2018, expressing concern that OceanGate opted against certifying the Titan through third parties such as the American Bureau of Shipping, a leading classifier of submersibles.

The wreck of the Titanic, the infamous ship that sank in April 1912, lies around 700km south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, in Canada. The rescue mission for the missing sub is being run from Boston in Massachusetts and the US Coast Guard has said a research ship called the ‘Polar Prince’ had conducted a surface search for the sub on Monday evening. It is used to transport submersibles to the wreckage site and was the support ship on Sunday’s tourist expedition.