Here is what we know about the missing Titanic submersible

The submersible carrying five people to see the remains of the Titanic at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean is still missing despite a massive search operation.

HERE IS WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE TITAN SUBMERSIBLE

On Wednesday, the Ocean Gate Expeditions confirmed that sounds had been emitted in the search area where the Titan submersible disappeared.

“There’s still 24 hours of oxygen left.”

OceanGate Expeditions

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HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED:

A five-person crew on a submersible named Titan, owned by OceanGate Expeditions, submerged on a dive to the Titanic wreckage site Sunday morning, and the crew of the Polar Prince research ship lost contact with the sub about an hour and 45 minutes later, the U.S. Coast Guard said Monday afternoon.

The sub was lost in an area about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, in the North Atlantic, in water with a depth of about 13,000 feet. It had less than 40 hours of breathable air left as of Tuesday evening.

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WHAT IS A SUBMERSIBLE?

A submersible is different from a submarine in a few key ways:

• It has limited power reserves, so it needs a support ship on the surface to launch and recover it.
• It can’t stay underwater for as long; the Titan typically spends 10 to 11 hours during each dive to the Titanic wreck, compared to submarines that can stay underwater for months.
• The Titan is made of carbon fiber and titanium, weighing 23,000 pounds, with safety features to monitor the structural integrity of the vessel, according to OceanGate.
• It’s also small and sparse on the inside, with about as much space as a minivan.

ALSO READ: Rescuers detect ‘underwater noises’ in hunt for missing Titanic sub

WHAT IS THE LATEST NEWS?

The submersible is designed to carry 96 hours of oxygen for five people on board.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it likely had about 40 hours left by Tuesday. That gives authorities until around early Thursday to locate and retrieve the vessel.

But there are several challenges, including the remote location, local weather conditions, the state of the submersible – and the extraordinary depth of the ocean in the area they went missing.

Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 73
Stockton Rush, 61
Hamish Harding, 58
Shahzada Dawood, 48
Sulaiman Dawood, 19

WHO IS ON BOARD?

According to a report by CNN, the following people have been confirmed on board:

• British businessman Hamish Harding (58),
• French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet (73),
• Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood (48) and
• His son Sulaiman Dawood (19) has all been confirmed to be on board.
• The fifth person is OceanGate CEO and founder Stockton Rush (61).

HARDING’S LAST FACEBOOK POST:

Harding made a Facebook post about the expedition:

“I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic.

“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.

“A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning.

“Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.
The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet.

“More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds!”

Hamish Harding

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