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As oxygen dwindles, search for missing Titanic-bound submersible goes underwater

June 20, 2023

By John Gittelsohn, Angus Whitley and Guillermo Molero

The search for a diving vessel that was headed to the wreck of the Titanic has shifted underwater after air efforts failed to find the craft, which has five people onboard and about 40 hours of oxygen left.

The US Coast Guard and the Canadian Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, have been conducting surface search missions overhead in the North Atlantic since Monday afternoon. OceanGate Expeditions, the operator of the mission, is leading underwater search efforts because of its knowledge of the site, Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said.

“There is a full-court press effort to get equipment on scene as quickly as we can,” US Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick said at a news briefing in Boston Tuesday.

In this photo released by Action Aviation, the submersible Titan is prepared for a dive into a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean on an expedition to the Titanic on Sunday, June 18, 2023. Rescuers raced against time Tuesday, June 20, to find the missing submersible carrying five people, who were reported overdue Sunday night. (Action Aviation via AP)

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, talks to the media, Monday, June 19, 2023, in Boston. A search is underway for a missing submersible that carries people to view the wreckage of the Titanic. Canadian officials say the five-person submersible was reported overdue Sunday night about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland and that the search is being led by the U.S. Coast Guard. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, speaks to the media, Monday, June 19, 2023, in Boston. A search is underway for a missing submersible that carries people to view the wreckage of the Titanic. Canadian officials say the five-person submersible was reported overdue Sunday night about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland and that the search is being led by the U.S. Coast Guard. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

In this photo provided by Blue Origin, NS-21 (New Shepard-21), astronaut Hamish Harding receives his Blue Origin astronaut pin after a successful flight to space on June 4, 2022, in Van Horn, Texas. According to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding serves as chairman, the U.K. businessman was one of the mission specialists onboard a missing submersible carrying five people to view the wreckage of the Titanic that was reported overdue late Sunday, June 18, 2023. (Felix Kunze/Blue Origin via AP)

In this photograph released by Action Aviation, company chairman and billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding looks out to sea before boarding the submersible Titan for a dive into the Atlantic Ocean on an expedition to the Titanic on Sunday, June 18, 2023. Rescuers raced against time Tuesday, June 20, to find the missing submersible carrying Harding and four other people, who were reported overdue Sunday night. (Action Aviation via AP)

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The Titan submersible vessel was designed to have an oxygen supply of as much as 96 hours in case of an emergency, according to the Coast Guard. Frederick said the 40-hour estimate of breathable oxygen remaining is based on that number.

France has dispatched a research vessel, the Atalante, equipped with an underwater robot that can reach as deep as 4,000 meters (13,123 feet). French pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet is reported by several newspapers to be aboard the Titan, a 6.7-meter-long craft made of carbon fiber and titanium.

See more on the missing underwater craft: SETI Institute trustee, billionaire explorer, famed French diver among 5 on board the missing sub

“The idea and our wish is for the ship to arrive as soon as possible, which should be Wednesday at 8 p.m. local time,” Herve Berville, French secretary of state in charge of the sea, told BFMTV, a French CNN affiliate.

The US Transportation Command is sending three C-17 transport jets from Buffalo, New York, to St. John’s, Newfoundland, carrying commercial equipment considered useful for the search, according to a command spokesman. The New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing is assisting the Coast Guard, Governor Kathy Hochul said.

The Coast Guard received a call Sunday from the submersible’s command ship, the Polar Prince, saying it lost contact with the vessel about 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, according to Lt. Samantha Corcoran, a Coast Guard spokesperson in Boston. A C-130 plane with radar capability was dispatched to search the area Sunday, and was joined Monday by a Canadian P-8 Poseidon, an aircraft designed for anti-submarine warfare. “We’re focused on the search and hoping to safely locate all five individuals,” Corcoran said.

OceanGate Expeditions said in a statement it was “exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely.”

The Titan carries a pilot and four crew to a maximum depth of 4,000 meters and can monitor their health in real time. The system provides “early warning detection for the pilot with enough time to arrest the descent and safely return to surface,” according to OceanGate’s website.

Among those also missing is Hamish Harding, chairman of Action Aviation, according to Mark Butler, managing director of the Dubai-based aircraft brokerage. In a Twitter post Sunday, the company said “the sub had a successful launch and Hamish is currently diving.”

Two other members of the crew, Engro Corp. Vice Chairman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, are from one of Pakistan’s most prominent business families. A statement from the Dawood family said there was little information about what had happened.

According to several newspapers including the Australian, Stockton Rush, founder and chief executive officer of OceanGate is also on board. The company didn’t reply to an email seeking to confirm those details.

Harding posted on social media two days ago that the area was experiencing its worst weather in 40 years.

“A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow,” he wrote. “This mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023.”

The guests pay $250,000, according to the New York Times, which first reported the rescue operation.

OceanGate says it offers 10-day expeditions to the Titanic site, providing “qualified explorers” the opportunity to join as mission specialists, surveying the wreckage and documenting the sunken vessel’s condition, as well as flora and fauna inhabiting the wreck site. The fees underwrite their training and the participation of the science team exploring the ship that sank in 1912 on its maiden transatlantic voyage after hitting an iceberg.

Everett, Washington-based OceanGate ran expeditions to explore the wreck in 2021 and 2022, according to its website. A photo of a submersible and the Titanic dive operations was posted on its Twitter feed on June 1.

– With assistance from Faseeh Mangi and Tony Capaccio

Orange County Register

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As oxygen dwindles, search for missing Titanic-bound submersible goes underwater

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