8:36 pm ET, June 21, 2023
The search for the missing submersible is intensifying as fears grow about a dwindling oxygen supply. Here’s what we know
From the CNN staff
A screengrab from the Canadian Armed Forces Operations video released on June 21, 2023, showing the search efforts for the OceanGate Titan submersible.
Armed Forces of Canada
The submersible, known as “Titan,” began each trip with 96 hours of life support and has been missing since Sunday, setting up Thursday morning as a key target for the search for the ship and its occupants.
The US Coast Guard has modified some of its equipment to try to pinpoint the sounds heard during an aerial search Tuesday and Wednesday morning in the remote North Atlantic area. Although it did not yield any results, the sonar devices from the Canadian P-3 aircraft were examined by the US Navy, officials said Wednesday.
Here’s what we learned today:
How the sub disappeared: The ship, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, began its two-hour descent into the wreck of the Titanic on Sunday morning. (You can see how deep the damage is here.) It lost contact with the Polar Prince, the support ship that was taking the craft to the North Atlantic location, 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent, officials said. Search operations began later that day. It is still unclear what happened to the submersible, why it disappeared, and how close it was to the Titanic when it went missing.
What we know about noises: Banging noises were identified on the Canadian plane on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipment was moved to where the noises were detected, according to Captain Jamie Frederick, the response coordinator of the First Coast Guard District. But searches of the area “gave negative results,” he said. Data from the plane indicating the noises were sent to the US Navy, but so far it has not been determined,” Frederick said, adding that the Coast Guard did not know what the sounds were.
What it’s like onboard: The ship begins each trip with 96 hours of life support, according to OceanGate — and officials believe the five people on board have “limited rations” of food and water. Ret. Navy Capt. David Marquet, a former submarine captain, told CNN that the nearly freezing water at that depth probably made the situation uncomfortable. “There is cold inside parts of the submarine. They are all huddled together trying to conserve their body heat. They are low on oxygen and they are exhaling carbon dioxide,” he said.
The Polar Prince: The support vessel that brought the submersible to the dive site will remain at sea until the search is over, the operator said Wednesday. Horizon Maritime Services said the Polar Prince’s role was to support the Coast Guard and that the searchers were “very aware of the time sensitivity of this mission.” There is a crew of 17 people on board, said Sean Leet, the company’s co-founder and chairman.
Special equipment: When search crews find the missing deep-sea submersible, authorities face an increasingly complex recovery mission. A US Navy salvage system arrived in St. John’s, Newfoundland, on Wednesday, a Navy official said. The Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS) is capable of retrieving objects or vessels from under the ocean floor up to a depth of 20,000 feet, but must first be welded to a vessel that can be a days, the official said. . You can see all the equipment used in the search efforts here.
