AP Photo/Ed Komenda
MATT MARGOLIS | PJ Media
UPDATE 12:49 p.m. ET: The U.S. Coast Guard announced on Thursday that a remotely operated vehicle had discovered a “debris field” in the search area for the missing submarine. “Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information,” the Coast Guard added, noting that officials will hold a press briefing at 3 p.m. ET to “discuss findings from the Horizon Arctic’s ROV on the sea floor near the Titanic.”
Original story:
It appears that all hope is lost to recover the Titan Five submersible vessel. Five passengers had gone down to the dark depths of the ocean floor to view the Titanic wreckage before going missing on Sunday.
According to the Associated Press, there was still some hope that the passengers could be rescued.
“Rescuers on Wednesday rushed more ships and vessels to the area where a submersible disappeared on its way to the Titanic wreckage site, hoping underwater sounds they detected for a second straight day might help narrow their search in an increasingly urgent mission,” the Associated Press reported. “Crews were scouring an area twice the size of Connecticut in waters 2 1/2 miles deep, said Captain Jamie Frederick of the First Coast Guard District, who noted that authorities are still holding out hope of saving the five passengers onboard the Titan.”
“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.”
But even those who expressed optimism warned that many obstacles remain: from pinpointing the vessel’s location, to reaching it with rescue equipment, to bringing it to the surface — assuming it’s still intact. And all that has to happen before the passengers’ oxygen supply runs out, which some have estimated might happen as early as Thursday morning.
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The area of the North Atlantic where the Titan went missing on Sunday is prone to fog and stormy conditions, making it an extremely challenging environment to conduct a search-and-rescue mission, said Donald Murphy, an oceanographer who served as chief scientist of the Coast Guard’s International Ice Patrol. The lost submersible could be as deep as about 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) below the surface near the watery tomb of the Titanic.
Unfortunately, the Titan Five has likely depleted its oxygen supply, as the craft was only designed with a life-support system that could last a maximum of 96 hours. The five passengers are billionaire Hamish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood, his son Sulaiman Dawood, and Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate.
There were multiple theories as to what caused the craft to go missing and lose communication, from implosion to power failure. The only glimmer of hope that the passengers were still alive came Tuesday night when banging noises were discovered at half-hour intervals.
For years, experts have been warning about the problems with the Titan submersible, and former employees have come forward saying they were fired for pointing out safety flaws. A years-old Zoom video also revealed that Rush intentionally prioritized diversity over experience when hiring in his company, over the belief that “50-year-old white guys” wouldn’t be inspiring to the next generation.
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