In the abyss, silence. The Titan no longer responds. A small tourist submarine with five people on board has disappeared while exploring the wreckage of the Titanic. The craft ceased emitting, in a remote region of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North America. But what happened? Who was on board? 20 minutes takes stock for you.
What happened ?
Difficult to know exactly what happened to the submarine. A mission visiting the Titanic was “in progress”, from June 12 to 20. The company’s only device capable of going Titanic deep is the Titan. It is “a submersible designed to take five people to depths of 4,000 meters”, with a range of 96 hours for a crew of five.
But on Sunday, authorities were notified by the craft’s operator, OceanGate Expeditions, that it had not been found alive. Without having studied the craft itself, Alistair Greig, professor of marine engineering at University College London, raised two possible theories based on images of the device published by the press.
He reckons that if he had a problem with the electricity or communications, he could have been brought to the surface, floating “waiting to be found”. “Another scenario is that the hull has been compromised,” and there has been a leak. “Then the prognosis is not good,” he added.
What research is underway?
Since being alerted, the authorities have been struggling to find the small submarine and its occupants. This Tuesday, the US and Canadian Coast Guards are continuing search operations. “We are working very, very hard” to find him, assured Rear Admiral John Mauger, of the United States Coast Guard on Monday. According to him, the research, on the surface and under water, concerns an area “about 1,450 km east of Cape Cod, at a depth of about 4,000 m”.
Two planes, an American C-130 and a Canadian P8 equipped with a sonar capable of detecting submarines, are engaged in the search, according to the American Coast Guard. Aerial searches, unsuccessful throughout the day, were suspended for the night, Monday evening. The ship Polar Prince, from which the submersible departed, and a National Guard unit, however, continued to carry out surface searches in the evening.
Time is now a critical factor in finding the passengers of the submarine. “It is a remote region and it is complicated to conduct research in such an area,” explained John Mauger, estimating that the submersible still had oxygen reserves of 70 hours or more on Monday. According to initial estimates, the passengers of the submersible should run out of air in the worst scenario on Wednesday at 11 a.m. and in the best on Thursday at the start of the afternoon.
Who was on board?
According to the operator, a pilot and four other people were on board. Passengers include British businessman, aviator and space tourist Hamish Harding, 58, CEO of Dubai-based private jet sales firm Action Aviation. The businessman announced on social media on Saturday that he was part of the crew, adding that he was “proud” to participate in this mission. Hamish Harding is familiar with extreme explorations which have earned him several Guinness records. In particular, he went into space a year ago, aboard Blue Origin’s rocket, New Shepard. In March 2021, he dived with fellow explorer Victor Vescovo deep into the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean known to date.
Shahzada Dawood, vice president of conglomerate Engro based in Karachi, southern Pakistan, and his son Suleman are also on board the submersible, their family said in a statement. Engro has investments in several business sectors: energy, agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunications. Shahzada’s father, Hussain Dawood, is regularly cited by the Pakistani press as one of the country’s richest men.
French Titanic specialist, oceanographer Paul-Henry Nargeolet, was also part of the expedition, according to the post by Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation, a private jet sales company based in Dubai. Rear Admiral Mauger, of the US Coast Guard, however, did not want to give official information on the people on board “out of respect for the families”.