Missing Titan submarine: Vessel reportedly out of oxygen, hopes diminish
Search and rescue operations continue in the Atlantic Ocean to find the missing tourist submersible for the fifth day on Thursday. Reportedly, the emergency oxygen supply for the five people onboard might have run out on Thursday evening. The 21-foot tourist craft called "Titan" lost communication with its mothership less than two hours into its trip to see the Titanic shipwreck.
Survival of tourists onboard remains mystery
According to reports, the submersible has likely crossed its 96-hour oxygen mark. It remains unclear whether the tourists survived or consequently took steps to conserve the breathable air. The deadline to rescue the submarine was reportedly estimated between 3:30pm and 5:30pm (IST). The BBC reported that, depending on conditions, tourists could survive longer than expected as running out of oxygen was a gradual process.
Multinational search operations launched
Meanwhile, the United States (US) Coast Guard said on social media that two deepwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) have reached the sea floor to find the lost submarine. Additionally, Victor 6000, operated from the French research vessel Atalante, has also been deployed. Britain, too, has embedded a navy submariner with the team searching for the submersible.
Passengers include UK billionaire, French diver
The passengers onboard the vessel include billionaire Hamish Harding of the United Kingdom (UK), well-known French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son. According to latest reports, Wendy Rush, the wife of Stockton Rush, the submersible's pilot and CEO of OceanGate, is a descendent of a wealthy couple who died on the Titanic in 1912.
