The missing Titanic submersible has officially run out of oxygen
Hope is running thin for the Titanic submersible that went missing after journeying thousands of feet into the ocean to view the infamous ship’s underwater wreckage.
On Tuesday, United States Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick told media that only “about 40 hours of breathable air” were left for the five passengers aboard the submersible.
Those 40 hours ended early Thursday morning, and it is feared so did the passengers’ oxygen supply.
A real-time tracker for the submersible, which has been issuing updates every 30 minutes, also reported the grim update.
Titanic sub has run out of oxygen. pic.twitter.com/zc9nOUkbNj
— Titanic Countdown (@TitanicSub) June 22, 2023
The missing vessel, officially called the Titan, is owned by a Washington-based company called OceanGate. The Titan can travel up to three knots and reach depths of up to 4,000 meters (13,123 feet).
OceanGate
“The Coast Guard is searching for five persons after the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince lost contact with their submersible during a dive, approximately 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Sunday morning,” reads a release from the United States Coast Guard.
Aside from a pilot, the submersible’s passengers include a Titanic expert, renowned British adventurer Hamish Harding, a Pakistani businessman and his teenage son — a student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.
OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henry Nargeolet. (OceanGate | Dawood Foundation | Action Aviation | LinkedIn)
In a statement issued Wednesday, the United States Coast Guard provided details about the submersible’s journey and disappearance.
Officials said that around 5:40 pm on June 18, the US Coast Guard received a report on an overdue 21-foot submersible from the Canadian Research Vessel Polar Prince with five people on board, diving to view the wreckage of the Titanic, approximately 900 nautical miles East of Cape Cod.
“The submersible was launched at 8 am EDT and expected to resurface at 3 pm, but one hour and 45 minutes into their dive, they lost contact with the Polar Prince,” the statement reads. “The Coast Guard is working with international partners to effectively utilize all resources available.”
Thousands of square miles of ocean waters have been searched thus far, with no sign of the Titan.