Missing Titanic tourist submarine may have 70-96 hrs of oxygen left, rescuers race against time
NEW DELHI,JUNE 20 : Officials are in a race against time to locate a submersible tourist vessel that went missing on Sunday in the North Atlantic during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck with five people on board. The five people comprised one pilot and four “mission specialists”.
Rescuers are understood to be in a “race against time” as there is only enough oxygen on the submersible to last about 70 to 96 hours, The Times reported.
The 21-foot vessel has four days of emergency capability, the leader of search and rescue efforts said Monday afternoon.
Crews with the US and Canadian coast guards continued hunting the ocean’s surface about 900 miles east of Cape Cod and used sonar to listen for sounds far below the water, which is up to 13,000 feet deep in the area.
A British billionaire is among the five people on board the submersible. Hamish Harding, a billionaire entrepreneur and investor, and four others are feared to be running out of air after contact was lost with the small vessel.
The small submarine, used to take people to see the wreckage of the Titanic, went missing with its crew on board in the Atlantic Ocean.
The submersible belonged to OceanGate Expeditions, a company that deploys manned submersibles for deep sea expeditions, according to multiple reports.
In a statement, the company said “all options” are being explored to bring the crew back safely. However, it did not confirm the exact number of people who went missing.
The Titanic sank into the Atlantic in 1912 during its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg. Over 1,500 died when the Titanic sank. The wreckage of the ship was discovered in 1985, deep at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean and it has been extensively explored ever since.
-The India Today
