As the clock ticks away, hopes for the rescue of the five men on board the missing Titan submersible are dwindling. The vessel, which lost communication on Sunday, is now beyond the 96-hour mark of its estimated oxygen supply, leaving rescuers with an uphill battle to find and save the crew. The situation is dire, with experts warning that the chances of rescue are decreasing with each passing hour.
The Titan, which was on a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck off the coast of Canada, had a crew of five, including British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, UK-based businessman Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman Dawood, OceanGate’s chief executive and founder Stockton Rush, and French submersible pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet. As the oxygen supply dwindles, the crew’s chances of survival are becoming increasingly grim.
Rescue efforts are underway, with the US Coastguard, Canadian authorities, and other agencies scrambling to locate the missing vessel. The French ship L’Atalante is preparing its specialist Victor 6000 ROV to enter the water, while the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic’s ROV has reached the sea floor. The French submersible pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who was on board the Titan, has extensive experience in deep-sea operations, but even his expertise may not be enough to guarantee the successful rescue of the crew.
As the search continues, experts are sounding the alarm, warning that time is running out. Former Royal Navy submarine captain Ryan Ramsey described the situation as “bleak,” while Dr. Jamie Pringle, a reader in Forensic Geosciences at Keele University, believes that the longer the time elapses, the lower the chances of success. Dr. Rob Larter, a marine geophysicist with the British Antarctic Survey, described the situation as “desperate,” adding that every step takes time, but the crew is running out of it.
Hamish Harding (Via Hamish Harding/Twitter)
Despite the dire circumstances, The Explorers Club, of which Hamish Harding is a member, has approved the deployment of an ROV from Magellan, a company that has previously visited the Titanic wreckage and has the capability to reach depths of up to 6,000 meters. The club’s president, Richard Garriott de Cayeux, criticized the slow response time in approval of the ROV, stating that the delay has put the crew in a more precarious situation.
The search area has expanded, covering approximately 10,000 square miles of ocean surface and extending 2.5 miles deep. The Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic has deployed an ROV that has reached the sea floor, but so far, no signs of the missing submersible have been found. The US Coastguard has multiple vessels involved in the search, with Captain Jamie Frederick emphasizing that the mission is still a search-and-rescue effort and that every available asset is being used to find the Titan and its crew.
As the clock ticks away, the fate of the five men on board the Titan remains uncertain. The ocean’s darkest hour approaches, and the world holds its breath, hoping against hope that the crew will be found alive and well.
