The Race Against The Clock To Find The Submersible
As the whole world is aware, the submarine known as the “Titan” went missing on Sunday morning. Everybody was incredibly concerned and still had hope for the passengers that were on board. The five individuals that were on board were known to be Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, and his son Suleman Dawood. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Stockton Rush.
This is a case that had the entire nation in distress because it lost contact with its support surface ship “Polar Prince.” The entire time it was a life or death situation, since their oxygen was rapidly depleting as the minutes went by. In fact, it was estimated to run out of oxygen by today, June 22, this morning at 5 a.m. It was also predicted that the oxygen that they had as supply would last only about 96 hours.
The Structure Of The Submarine
The submarine had a structure of a minivan. It was very a very small place where there was not enough space to stand. It was a 22-foot craft made of carbon-fiber and titanium.
As mentioned before, “Titan” was deployed by the Polar Prince, which is a Canadian expedition ship. Polar Prince was going to make it travel about 13,000 feet down to the Titanic shipwreck location. This submarine was developed by the company OceanGate.
Where and How Did the Submarine Go Missing
These five individuals’ main goal was to go explore the Titanic ship wreckage. It went missing in the North Atlantic Ocean. It was first noticed that something was going on when the submarine had lost contact with the support ship. Which was about an hour and 45 minutes after it had started to dive. It was not clear why they had lost any type of contact. However, the search for the “Titan” began immediately later that day on Sunday, June 18th.
Furthermore, family members starting confirming that their loved ones were in fact in that submarine. Overall, there was a lot of despair in this situation because of the depth they might have reached and the amount of oxygen that they were losing and had left. Some experts believed and pointed out that it might have been near the surface. Since according to them, “submersibles typically are able to shed weight for additional buoyancy.”
However, even if they did, in fact, reach the surface, they would still be stuck. The reason as the submersible door was bolted from the outside. Which oxygen was still a huge factor in this situation. They would have still needed to be located and be freed by rescuers from the outside of the craft.
Everything That Was Done In The Intent Of Rescuing Them
Rescue efforts did everything they could, day and night. They never stopped looking for these individuals. They even heard banging noises near the location where they might have been. Despite if it was them or not, they still followed thoroughly and found out that it was not the submarine.
The U.S. Coast Guard was coordinating with the Canadian authorities and proceeded to send other vessels and crafts to search for the “Titan.” The search covered about 10,000 square miles of the ocean, which was about the size of the Massachusetts. They even had the U.S. Navy involve, and a remotely operated vehicle. A lot of things played a factor in this desperate search, like the water temperature, depth, lack of light, oxygen, the outside bolt, and the time.
The Devastating Reality Of This Tragic Event
Unfortunately, it is now certainly believed that it is too late and that they are now gone. Since the estimated oxygen amount has officially been over. It had previously been expressed that they were still going to try to look for their bodies and hoped to find them for their family’s comfort and the entire nation.
However, recently it has come to everyone’s attention that it had actually suffered a “catastrophic implosion.” Which means the debris that they had found was about 1,600 feet away from the Titanic and it has been discovered that it was in fact from the long-missing “Titan.” Meaning that now it would be most likely be impossible to find their bodies rests.
Written by Jeanette Sanchez
Sources:
CNN World: Missing Titanic sub crew believed to be dead, tour company says
CNN World: June 22, 2023 – Missing Titanic sub crew killed after ‘catastrophic implosion’
The New York Times: What to Know About the Missing Titan Submersible and the Race to Find It
CBS News: Search for missing OceanGate sub ramps up near Titanic wreck with deep-sea robot scanning ocean floor
The Washington Post: Search for missing Titanic submersible at crucial stage; remote vehicle lands on seafloor
NPR: All 5 passengers aboard Titan sub are believed dead after ‘catastrophic implosion’
Featured Image Courtesy of Eric McCarthy Flickr Page-Creative Commons License
Inset Images Courtesy of Roderick Eime Flickr Page-Creative Commons License
