A submersible carrying five people that went missing during a voyage to the Titanic wreckage likely has less than two days’ worth of oxygen remaining, a Coast Guard official said Tuesday afternoon.
Capt. Jamie Frederick with the Coast Guard’s 1st District provided the estimate during a press conference on the ongoing international search for the wayward vessel.
“We know there’s about 40 hours of breathable air left based on that initial report,” Frederick said.
US Coast Guard says Titanic sub has "about 40 hours of breathable air left." pic.twitter.com/0CBNAwL2bN
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) June 20, 2023
The calculation is based on OceanGate Expeditions saying that its van-sized submersible, known as the Titan, has a 96-hour life support system for a crew of five. Such an estimate would have the oxygen running out around 5 a.m. ET on Thursday.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the Titan was reported missing after a Canadian research vessel called the Polar Prince lost contact with it about 900 miles off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, roughly an hour and 45 minutes into a dive on Sunday.
The search operation, which includes multiple aircraft, ships, and sonar buoys, has “not yielded any results,” Frederick said on Tuesday. He said the search area is “larger than the state of Connecticut.”
"Search efforts have not yielded any results," U.S. Coast Guard spokesman says of the tourist sub that disappeared on an expedition to the Titanic wreck.
The search area is "larger than the state of Connecticut." pic.twitter.com/9TVRIgWnTL
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 20, 2023
OceanGate offers people a chance to visit the Titanic wreckage for $250,000. The company says its Titan submersible weighs 23,000 pounds and can dive nearly 2.5 miles underwater, which is about the depth of the Titanic’s wreckage on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean about 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
A 2022 report by CBS correspondent David Pogue said the Titan is sealed by an outside crew with 17 bolts, and there is no way for the crew to get out themselves. The report also noted that the submersible lacks underwater GPS but rather is guided by text messages from the surface ship.
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The five-person crew that vanished is believed to include billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, according to The New York Times. The Daily Mail reports OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush is the fifth person aboard the submersible.
“Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families, we are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible,” OceanGate said in a statement on Monday.