Experts, including David Pogue, weigh in.
More than 1,500 lives were tragically lost after the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912, and now — more than 100 years later — another tragedy may have struck again in the same area.
Search and rescue crews are on a race against time to find a tourist submersible carrying five people that vanished during a dive to tour the Titanic wreckage on Sunday. Now, the U.S. Coast Guard estimates that the vessel’s breathable air will likely run out by Thursday.
But the search is proving to be no easy task due to the remoteness of the location and the debris in the area. The vessel also may not be as easy to spot as you might think (it’s about the size of a minivan and steered using a video game controller). “We’re making the best use of every moment of that time. What we’re focused on is finding those five people,” Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard told reporters.
As the story continues to unfold, here’s what we know about the sub’s disappearance and who’s aboard. Plus, we spoke to two experts about the incident, including journalist David Pogue, who spent time aboard the vessel.
What to know about OceanGate’s Titan submersible
The submersible named Titan was operated by a tour firm known as OceanGate Expeditions, which had billed the trip as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity “to see the Titanic with your own eyes” — at $250,000 a seat.
The OceanGate website claims that “a combination of ground-breaking engineering and off-the-shelf technology gives Titan a unique advantage over other deep diving subs.” Specifically, the company points to its real-time hull health monitoring (RTM) system — technology that it says is not used in any manned submersible other than Titan.
“Utilizing co-located acoustic sensors and strain gauges throughout the pressure boundary, the RTM system makes it possible to analyze the effects of changing pressure on the vessel as the submersible dives deeper, and accurately assess the integrity of the structure,” the company explains. “This onboard health analysis monitoring system provides early warning detection for the pilot with enough time to arrest the descent and safely return to surface.”
What happened to the missing submersible heading for the Titanic?
It left on Sunday with a 96-hour oxygen supply when it went to sea at about 6 a.m. But then it lost contact with the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince about an hour and 45 minutes into the dive, around 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
What makes this situation especially dire is that, unlike a submarine, a submersible can’t leave and come back to port on its own. “A submersible has very limited power reserves so it needs a mother ship that can launch it and recover it,” said Edith Widder, a former senior scientist at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, in a video by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Robert Greenspan, who’s president of Midco Diving and Marine Services, says some sort of “catastrophic” mistake must have happened for the vessel to lose all contact with its mother ship. “I would think there’d be more life-saving or emergency systems that would’ve taken over in the event, but something big must have failed.”
There are some other theories, too. Katie spoke with journalist David Pogue, whose own mission on the Titan was cancelled due to “mechanical problems,” and who saw the vessel firsthand. He told Katie that it seemed as if it had been “jerry-rigged” (more on that below). Despite these criticisms, the vessel’s disappearance may not have necessarily had to do with the makeshift-seeming equipment, like the video game controller used to steer. Greenspan says those are used by even “the most technical remotely operated vehicles.” What we do know, though, is that OceanGate faced a massive lawsuit in 2018 from an ex-employee, who alleged he was fired because he raised safety concerns about the now-missing submersible.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time an accident like this has happened. In 2000, then-ABC News correspondent Dr. Michael Guillen says he was filming from the wreck of the Titanic when his vessel got trapped by an underwater current that pushed them into the propeller; the accident almost claimed his life. “I’m very aware of what these poor souls on board the ship the Titan are experiencing,” Guillen said. “I am just heartbroken about it.”
“Underwater noises” heard at the search site
Early Wednesday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard announced that a Canadian aircraft in the search area had picked up “underwater noises.” Reports from Rolling Stone and CNN characterized these as “banging noises” that were heard every 30 minutes and persisted for at least four hours after their initial discovery — but it remains unclear exactly when these noises were heard.
The Coast Guard said that the location of these noises were being used to redirect the path of remotely operated vehicles aiding in the search, but so far these have “yielded negative results.” However, some experts say these sounds are a promising development. Richard Garriott, the president of the New York-based Explorers Club, sent a letter to members on Tuesday saying “likely signs of life have been detected at the site.”
Who are the five people aboard the missing Titan sub?
Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his young son Suleman are among those reportedly missing on the submarine. According to the BBC, his family said he was interested in “exploring different natural habitats”, while they described the teenager a “big fan of science fiction literature and learning new things.”
Two renowned explorers — Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Hamish Harding — were also aboard, along with OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush. Harding had even previewed his trip the day before the sub’s dive. “Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023,” Harding wrote in an Instagram post on Saturday.
While the search remains very much underway, Greenspan remains cautiously optimistic. “As long as the passengers remain calm, they might have enough options to survive, but somebody has to get to them and fast.”
