Search & Rescue For Missing Submarine Becomes Desperate As Oxygen Reserve Almost Runs Out

Time is running out for the people trapped in the missing submarine.

More grim news has emerged about the underwater craft that went missing on Sunday, June 18 as officials fear there is less than 24 hours of oxygen left. The search for the craft has increasingly intensified since the week began, with rescuers rushing more vessels and ships to the site of the disappearance with hopes that the underwater sounds they detected for two straight days might help narrow their search.  

The United States Coast Guard has been leading a huge, international mission to rescue the five people onboard the submersible in the days following the disappearance. Efforts were stepped up after rescuers heard underwater noises on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, even though experts have not been able to identify the cause of the sound.

And things got even worse after Daily Mail reported that a countdown had begun on the vital oxygen supply on the vessel. Per the outlet, a US Coast Guard spokesperson disclosed that the craft’s oxygen is expected to run out at 7:08 AM US Eastern time — 9:08 PM Sydney and 12:08 PM UK time — today, June 22.

While officials have maintained that the hunt is "100%" still a "search and rescue mission," the oxygen timeline has painted a bleak picture regarding the individuals trapped inside the grounded vessel. It is with that in mind that rescuers including the British Navy, USCG, and French and Canadian teams have picked up the pace as the window of the operation narrows.

Despite rescuers facing a battle against time and experts saying the entrapped Titan occupants will have to minimize their breathing to preserve the remaining supplies, the former has refused to give up hope. In fact, the US Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick insisted that he and his crew "have to remain optimistic and hopeful" even as people around the world countdown the hours until oxygen is expected to run out.

Global attention has been drawn to the ongoing crisis since the week began when the news that the submarine, dubbed Titan, lost communication with tour operators on Sunday. The submersible was about 435 miles south of St John's, Newfoundland during a quest to see the Titanic shipwreck off the Canadian coast.

Those trapped onboard called the Titan Five, include OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French navy veteran PH Nargeolet, British billionaire Hamish Harding, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman. During the initial hours of the U-boat going missing, Dawood’s family had issued a statement stating that the father and son had embarked on that "journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean." The statement added:

"As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available."

Amid the chaos, The Blast’s Melanie VanDerveer provided a breakdown of what has actually been going on with the Titan in an opinion piece dated June 21, 2023. As explained by her, nothing she read pointed to the submersible being approved by a regulatory agency for safety before it set sail. 

In her quest to find out why five billionaires would part with $250,000 just to visit the site of the Titanic wreck, VanDerveer landed on a recruiting video that began:

"OceanGate Expeditions offers you the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a specially trained crew member safely diving to the Titanic wreckage site. A 12,500-foot journey to the bottom of the sea. It’s the OceanGate Titanic Experience."

The footage then sheds light on this "opportunity," which does not require participants to be "a scientist, mechanic, or even have a 1200 SAT score" to sign up. It also explains that it is an eight-day, one-of-a-kind experience for partakers. 

"You will be trained as a mission specialist and record valuable findings," the video further stated before someone in it referred to the people signing up as "citizen scientists."

VanDerveer later revealed extra resources for onlookers who wanted to find more information about the situation. One such resource was a TikTok clip that contained baffling details about the seacraft resulting in wild reactions from observers.

One netizen had commented, "Imagine being stuck on the ocean floor with the view of the Titanic," while another stated, "I keep hearing people say implosion would be [the] worst case scenario… I dunno suffocating to death at the bottom of the ocean sounds pretty bad."

A third person quipped, "When you pay for the Titanic experience and get the full experience," and a fourth wondered, "So a group of billionaires had enough money to get an actual submarine. But opted to go in a construction paper submarine."