The search efforts to locate a submarine that had disappeared on Monday off the Atlantic coast of the northern United States, continue as officials remain concerned that time is running out. The sub operated by OceanGate Expeditions, was carrying one pilot and four passengers on board and the vessel had the capacity to be submerged for 96 hours, but it was unclear whether it was still underwater or had surfaced and was unable to communicate.
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Meanwhile, billionaire Hamish Harding, chairman of the global sales company Action Aviation, was identified as one of the missing tourists who were on their way to see the wreckage of the Titanic, as was Titanic expert researcher Paul-Henri Nargeolet, chief executive and founder of OceanGate Expeditions, Stockton Rush, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, According to a Sky News report.
OceanGate Expeditions said in a statement on Monday that it was "mobilizing all options" to rescue those on board. The expeditions, which cost $250,000 per person, start in St. John's, Newfoundland, before heading out approximately 400 miles (640 km) into the Atlantic to the wreckage site, according to OceanGate's website. In order to visit the wreck, passengers climbed inside Titan, a five-person submersible, which takes two hours to descend approximately 3,800 meters, (12,500 feet) to the Titanic.
Titan is a small submarine just 670 centimeters (22 feet long) weighing 9,072 kilograms (20,000 pounds) and is able to dive to a depth of 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). It would need eight hours to travel to the wreckage and back. Unlike larger submersibles leaving port and returning by the power of their engines, smaller vessels such as the Titan are transported to and from their destination by ship. For the expedition, Ocean Gate hired a Canadian ice breaker - MV Polar Prince.
It is unclear what has caused contact to be lost with the sub and determining the reason would indicate the chances of saving its passengers. The optimistic scenario would be that only the communication equipment malfunctioned or that the electric system went down which would allow the vessel to rise to the surface of the ocean in a random location and wait to be found.
The worse case option would be that the submarine's outer body was damaged, and the sub took in water. In such a case survival of the passengers would be unlikely and according to experts, if the Titan sank to the seafloor, there would be zero chances, because divers would be unable to reach it.
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U.S. coast guard vessels search for missing submarine of North American Atlantic coast
(Photo: Reuters)
Military vessels specifically designed for such missions would have a hard time as well. British former Rear Admiral Chris Perry told Sky explained that the Titanic is located in an “undulating” sea bed, in a trench on the sea floor and that the debris of the shipwreck will make it challenging to locate the sub using sonar.
“The only hope I think one has is that the mother ship will have a standby craft that will be able to go down and investigate immediately what is going on,” he said.