Rescuers are racing the clock in hopes of finding the missing submersible Titan and freeing the five passengers onboard. The OceanGate Titanic submersible lost communication with its host ship, Polar Prince, just one hour and 45 minutes into its descent to explore the RMS Titanic wreckage off St John's, Newfoundland, Canada. On Tuesday afternoon, experts warned that the submersible had just 40 hours of oxygen remaining, making the search efforts even more desperate. A Canadian aircraft has reportedly since detected "underwater noises," giving new hope to the search.
The search began Sunday afternoon and has continued nonstop. Efforts from the US Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard and military pursuits have been unsuccessful. Rescuers are racing time and the elements and grappling with fear of the unknown.
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The noises could mean 'Titan' is still functioning.
Experts would not elaborate on those noises, but new vessels arrived on the scene to aid in the search for the submersible, the Associated Press reported. The John Cabot, the Skandi Vinland, and the Atlantic Merlin are working together using sonar to search for Titan. So far, the search has yet to prove successful.
"The data from the P-3 aircraft has been shared with our U.S. Navy experts for further analysis which will be considered in future search plans," the Coast Guard said, according to the AP.
Even if the submersible is found, recovery could be difficult. The ocean is dark, and the water is cold. The adverse conditions make water rescues even more complicated than land rescues.
Some fear the submersible will never be found.
CBS News Sunday Morning correspondent David Pogue boarded the Titan with a group of explorers and traveled to the Titanic wreckage last summer, according to CNBC. He explained that Titan communicated with its mother ship with text messages and a pinging system indicating the submersible was working. Both systems stopped functioning less than two hours after Titan submerged on Sunday.
"There are only two things that could mean. Either they lost all power or the ship developed a hull breach and it imploded instantly. Both of those are devastatingly hopeless," Pogue told CNBC on Tuesday.
He said several backup systems are in place to help return the Titan to the surface, including a system designed to work if everyone aboard becomes unconscious.
Past passengers said conditions inside 'Titan' are difficult.
Aaron Newman spoke with Today about his trip on the Titan in 2021. Despite the potential dangers, he explained that he felt safe during the expedition.
"They were a professional crew. They did a lot of training around safety and the backup systems around dropping weights, so I felt very safe," Newman said. "But … this is not a Disney ride, right? We're going places that very few people have been, and this is inventing things. So there are risks, right? And we know that, but all these people accepted that."
He recalled that it was warm and stuffy when they boarded the submersible, but as the vessel began its descent, things changed quickly.
"By the time you hit the bottom, the water down there is below what standard freezing temperature is," he said, per Today. "That's going to conduct right through that metal, so it was cold when we were at the bottom. You had to layer up — we had wool hats on and were doing everything to stay warm at that bottom."
Newman said passengers planned to be there for the day; no one anticipated this kind of tragedy.
Experts warned of the potential dangers.
The AP reported that in 2018, David Lochridge, OceanGate's director of marine operations, wrote an engineering report warning of the dangers passengers could encounter in the "extreme depths" of the ocean, according to a lawsuit filed in a US District Court in Seattle.
His primary concern was OceanGate's reported reliance on sensitive acoustic monitoring, like cracking or popping sounds made by the hull under pressure, rather than scanning the hull. Lochridge alleged the company told him no equipment existed to perform such a test, the AP reported.
OceanGate sued Lochridge, citing a breach of nondisclosure, and he countersued, alleging wrongful termination for raising concerns about the safety of Titan. The suit was settled out of court for undisclosed terms, the AP reported.
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Searchers have not given up hope.
In addition to the pilot, OceanGate CEO and founder Stockton Rush, 61, four passengers are missing: Hamish Harding, 58, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son, Suleman Dawood, 19.
OceanGate Expeditions, which chartered the mission, posted this message to its Facebook page Monday:
"We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely. Our entire focus is on the crewmembers 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. We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers."
