Desperate search for Titanic sub continues as oxygen level deadline passes

Predicted oxygen levels deadline on Titan sub has passed

The US Coast Guard predicted yesterday that the supply of breathable air in the submersible Titan would run out at 12.08pm UK time today.

The deadline is only an estimate and depends on conditions onboard.

Former Royal Navy submarine captain Ryan Ramsey said one problem may also be the levels of carbon dioxide.

He said: “For this particular mission, if they’re on the seabed at the moment they’re 4,000m down. The water temperature for down there is about 0C, they’ve got no electricity so they’re not generating any power which means they can’t generate heat.

“That’s the first element, they’re dealing with the cold, if they’re still there they’ve been there for three days. The second challenge is air.

“Everybody keeps talking about oxygen and how there’s only 20 hours left, maybe they could extend that by slowing down breathing rates but that becomes really difficult considering the stress they will be under in this particularly horrific situation.

US coastguard says French deep sea robot about to dive in last gasp attempt to locate missing Titan

A French robot that can dive to 20,000 feet (6,000 metres) underwater is on its way to help free the missing Titan sub if it is trapped, its operator said.

The unmanned robot, called Victor 6000, can dive deeper than other equipment now at the site in the North Atlantic and has arms that can be remotely controlled to cut cables or perform other manoeuvres to release a stuck vessel, the operator said.

“Victor is not capable of lifting the submarine up on its own,” said Olivier Lefort, the head of naval operations at Ifremer, the state-run French ocean research institute which operates the robot.

But he told Reuters the robot could help hook the 10-tonne submersible called Titan to a ship with the capacity to lift it to the surface.

Titan went missing with five people on board shortly after starting its descent on Sunday to the Titanic, the British ocean liner that sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg. The wreck lies at a depth of about 12,500 feet (3,810 metres).

Pembroke May Ball apologises for ‘into the depths’ theme

A Cambridge college has apologised for hosting a ‘nautical’ themed ball as its alumni billionaire Hamish Harding runs out of air on the missing Titan submersible.

The May Ball committee “are aware of the worrying news” about Harding. The ‘Into the Depths’ theme “was chosen many months ago,” and the committee said that “if we could change it now, we would”.

They also said: “Our thoughts go out to the Harding family at this very difficult time”.

Pembroke May Ball, which took place last night has taken down its website and made its Instagram private.

It is reported that students at the event were entertained with nautical themed music including Celine Dion’s hit ‘My Heart Will Go On,’ from the film Titanic, while Harding and four others are trapped thousands of feet underwater.

It came after his step-son attended a Blink 182 gig while Mr Harding was missing.

‘Prepare ourselves for the worst’, former Navy officer’s stark warning

A retired rear admiral has spoken of the public to prepare for the worst if the rescue bid to bring Titan back to the surface fails.

Chris Parry told Sky News that the chances of survival for the 5-man crew at this point are “vanishingly small”.

The 6.7m (22ft)-long OceanGate Expeditions vessel is said to have had a 96-hour oxygen supply in case of emergencies.

He added: said: “I’m afraid to say that even if we were to find Titan now, the time it would take to get down there, secure them, bring them up… it’s vanishingly small in terms of the likelihood of survival.”

Research on Titanic wreck likely to stop ‘for a lifetime’

A scientific researcher has spoken of how deep-sea research on the Titanic is likely to be halted for a long time after the Titan went missing.

David Scott-Beddard, the CEO of Titanic exhibition company White Star Memories, told CNN that the tragedy has “without a doubt” had an impact on any future voyages to the wreck.

“The chances of any future research being carried out on the wreck of Titanic is extremely slim. Probably not in my lifetime.

“I imagine there will be an inquiry no doubt after this disaster, and much more stringent rules and regulations will be put in place,” he said.

Search pattern for Titan released by Coastguard

The coast guard have released an image of the full area being searched for the missing sub Titan.

The area is twice the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut in waters as deep as 13,200 feet (4,020 meters).

BBC analysis says the X is believed to mark the spot of the Titanic wreck.

Rob Larter at the British Antarctic Survey told the broadcaster: “There is no scale on it, which is not super helpful.”

“You will see there is a variety of different grids on there, some of them are denser than others. It is 2D as well, and remember we are in a 3D environment – we are not sure if this is from the surface or further down in the water.”

“I think that X shows you where the Titanic is, and it is interesting that the grids aren’t centred so the Titanic’s not in the middle.”

Captain Jamie Frederick of the First Coast Guard District said authorities were still holding out hope of saving the five passengers onboard.

The 5 rescue bouts scouring the Atlantic for Titan

The US coast guard had five surface vessels searching for Titan and all are expected there to be 10 by Thursday, Captain Jamie Frederick said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Asked whether the mission was changing to become a recovery search, he said: “This is a search-and-rescue mission 100%, we are smack dab in the middle of search and rescue and will continue to put every available asset that we have in an effort to find the Titan and the crew members.”

The recovery boats are:

• Motor Vessel Horizon Arctic: The Canadian 307-foot anchor handling vessel has a hangar for remotely operated vehicles (ROV) with a launch and recovery system. Sean Leet, co-founder and chairman of its owner, Horizon Maritime Services, said it has been loaded with an ROV supplied by the US military and is expected at the Titanic wreck site on Thursday.
• Research Vessel L’Atalante: This French, 279-foot multipurpose research vessel carries the Victor 6000, an ROV that can dive to almost 20,000 feet. (The Titanic wreck is at almost 13,000 feet.) Victor 6000 can perform tasks including video and acoustic search and inspection and has robotic arms that can manipulate objects, according to the ship’s operator, French Oceanographic Fleet.
• HMCS Glace Bay: A Canadian Navy 181-foot coastal defense vessel, it carries medical personnel and a mobile decompression chamber, which could be needed for any survivors brought up from the depth of the Titanic.
• Magellan ROV: A remotely operated vehicle from deep-sea mapping company Magellan, which operates submersibles that can reach more than 19,000 feet. Magellan, based in Guernsey in the British Isles, is best known for its imagery of the Titanic.

• CCGS John Cabot: The 207-foot Canadian Coast Guard offshore fishery science vessel carries “advanced deep sonar,” according to the Canadian Coast Guard. Sonar uses sound wave echoes to find objects or to map features in the ocean.

Full area being searched as officials fear there’s just hours’ worth of oxygen left on board the craft.

The full area being searched was twice the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut in waters as deep as 13,200 feet (4,020 meters). Captain Jamie Frederick of the First Coast Guard District said authorities were still holding out hope of saving the five passengers onboard.

The US Coast Guard predicts that the oxygen supply in the Titan submersible will run out at 12.08pm UK time on Thursday.

A spokeswoman for the coast guard confirmed the projection as 7.08am local time, as concerns continue for those inside the vessel.

According to OceanGate, Titan’s operator, the sub has a 96-hour oxygen supply in case of emergencies.

Explorers criticise time taken for their support to be accepted as valuable minutes tick away

In a statement, Richard Garriott de Cayeux, president of The Explorers Club, confirmed it is sending support to help with the search for Titan but criticised the time taken to get the support accepted.

Posting on Twitter, Mr Garriott de Cayeux wrote: “Thanks for all your support and hard work on the rescue operations for our friends aboard Titan.

“I believe we have importantly improved the odds of a positive outcome through our advice, volunteering of services and equipment, and even the political pressure we continue to bring to bear.

“All has been needed. All continues to be needed. Magellan is en route (should have been accepted sooner), we are still trying to get side scan sonar (should have been accepted sooner), and still working on ships to transport equipment and other details.

“We continue to come together for our friends, their families and the ideals of The Explorers Club, and the cause of safe scientific exploration of extreme environments.

“There is good cause for hope and we are making it more hopeful.”

Oxygen running low on Titan as rescue reaches critical stage

Levels of Oxygen will be running low on Titan with five people still trapped inside the cramped 21-foot submersible.

The Titan submersible begins each trip to explore the wreckage of the Titanic with an estimated 96 hours of life support and has been missing since Sunday morning, setting up Thursday morning as a key target for finding those on board.

With rudimentary controls and no room for its passengers to stretch out, the crew would have had “limited rations” of food and water, officials have said.

“We have to remain optimistic and hopeful,” Capt. Jamie Frederick, the response coordinator for the First Coast Guard District said during a news conference Wednesday.

It came as Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said his department was not “directly involved” in the efforts to find the missing Titanic submersible, adding that the UK was ready to provide consular assistance.

The Foreign Secretary told LBC: “Our High Commissioner in Canada stands ready to help and support on the consular side of things.

“This is a highly technical, highly difficult situation. Not one that my department is directly involved in, but of course we stand ready to support our friends around the world.”