According to experts, the OceanGate Titan submersible that went missing during its descent to the RMS Titanic wreckage on Sunday is officially out of oxygen. The end of the oxygen supply means the end of life for the five men onboard who wanted the adventure of a lifetime. The Titan's disappearance has captured the world for the last four days, with millions hoping for a miracle.
As of Thursday afternoon, the latest reports from the US Coast Guard indicate that pieces of the submersible may have surfaced, indicating the vessel broke apart.
The mission was met with criticism and controversy from the beginning. The cost of the trip was as much as some people's homes. Along with an extremely high price tag comes a significant risk. A lengthy waiver given to participants mentioned death multiple times. But the thirst for adventure seemingly outweighed the risks. Videos and photos circulating online showing the tight quarters inside the vessel have also sparked many conversations.
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Compared to the 'Titanic,' the 'Titan' is tiny.
Redditor @glibjibb posted photos of a visit to the OceanGate Titan in Marsh Harbour in 2019. The images show no frills — just a tiny tube that looks like an industrial elevator with a couple of screens and a tiny window.
"i keep being struck again and again by just how tiny this thing is. like idk, maybe thats the normal size for a sub like this, what the h— do i know, but the inside just looks way smaller than i would have imagined it. add in a small group of people and its a sardine can," someone wrote.
"There was a full 3D scan of the wreckage site released the other week. You can probably walk around the thing in VR soon. I would much rather that then see it through a tiny window above the sh—er," another person explained.
Plenty of Redditors were unimpressed with the submersible.
Many people worried about the craftsmanship of a vessel headed to the bottom of the ocean.
"If I was rich and wanted to see The Titanic, there's no way I would get on this makeshift backyard mechanic piece of junk," one Redditor commented.
"This whole submarine reeks of 'if it works, it works' lazy engineering," someone wrote.
"That looks like 3/4 how dare you sell them short. That extra 1/4 inch makes a world of different at those depths," another person pointed out.
"it was bound to fail but didn't this thing make it down there 4 times ? .. I heard twice in 21 and twice in 22 .. so it was a success to some degree .. albeit while taking a lethal risk .. it would've been a 'success' had they stopped after the 4th and improved it or retired it," one comment reads.
The 'Titan's' simple control system has raised lots of questions.
Video of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush giving a tour of the Titan shows him proudly showing off a video game controller.
"We've taken a completely new approach to the sub design, and it's all run with this game controller and these touch screens," he says in the video.
He then explains that the submersible can be moved up and down and side to side with the remote, which is Bluetooth activated, and he can hand it to anyone.
"And it's meant for a 16-year-old to throw it around. It's super durable and we keep a couple of spares on board just in case," he says as he tosses it to the floor of the submersible.
"That's the problem with today society lives treated like a video game," one comment on the video reads.
"imagine the controller toggle got stuck in one direction/broke.. dumbest design I've ever seen," another person chimed in.
"The CEO said they usually had couple controllers onboard? I hope they didn't take them out to make room to fit all 5 of them in that giant tin can," someone wrote.
Who is onboard?
Multiple agencies are still actively searching for the Titan, hoping to rescue the five adventurers inside. Rush, 61, and four passengers are missing: Hamish Harding, 58, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son, Sulaiman Dawood, 19. Although oxygen reserves are likely depleted at this point, it is possible some oxygen was reserved if the men were sleeping or breathing slowly, according to Frank Owen, a former submarine officer with the Royal Australian Navy and a search-and-rescue expert.
He stressed that rescuers would continue to search with "a huge amount of urgency," and will certainly "go long beyond 96 hours," per the New York Post, a period estimated to have ended Thursday morning.
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A source familiar with the 'Titan' claims he received information about the missing vessel.
During a live interview with Sky News, David Mearns, a friend of Harding and Nargeolet, said he is part of a WhatsApp group involving The Explorers Club, and a message came in from the president of the club that "a landing frame and a rear cover from the submersible" has been located.
"If the faring is off and the frame is off — then something really bad has happened to the entire structure," he said.
Sky News reported a robot found the debris, but no other information was available.
"A debris field implies there's a break up of the submersible and at that depth, because we know that they lost communications at around 3,300m … so that really indicates what is the worst case scenario which is a catastrophic failure, an implosion," Mearns said.
