Authorities say the missing OceanGate Expeditions submersible Titan has less than 40 hours of oxygen left inside as the US and Canadian Coast Guards search for the sub and its five passengers.
According to US Coast Guard (USCG) Boston spokesperson Capt. Jamie Frederick, the search area has covered 7,600 square miles (19683.91 sq. km.), larger than the state of Connecticut.
The Shady Operation of the Titan
The rescue task force included an over 300-foot vessel with remote operation capabilities that dove to the last known location of the Titan.
Frederick told reporters Tuesday (June 20) the Titan is equipped with 96 hours of oxygen for five people onboard. He added the search is particularly complicated as the location, which included the shipwreck site of the Titanic, is far from any coastline, making it logistically difficult to bring rescue crafts to the area.
French and British authorities were also reported earlier Tuesday to assist the Americans and Canadians in the search and rescue operation.
It was reported that the passengers were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French Navy veteran Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British billionaire Hamish Harding, and British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Sulaiman.
There is speculation that the Titan has been operating without proper testing and has "not been approved by any regulatory body," CBS reported. The Titan was built using RV supplier Camping World parts and is controlled with a 2011 Logitech gamepad controller.
Maritime experts also questioned how the sub was constructed and why it was even allowed to make commercial trips in the first place. The report went viral after CBS reporter David Pogue said the Titan was "jerry-rigged."
New York-based comedy writer and producer Mike Reiss told the BBC of his experience aboard the Titan Tuesday (June 20). He said OceanGate made him sign a "massive waiver" that "mentions death three times on page one" when he became a paying passenger last year.
"If [the sub is] down at the bottom, I don't know how anyone is going to be able to access it, much less bring it back up," he said.
The sentiment of fear was echoed by Harding's friend Jannicke Mikkelsen, saying there was "no way" for a manned rescue to reach the Titan at the depth of the Titanic. "Hamish and the rest of the crew aboard...are trapped in a metal can at the bottom of the ocean where the atmospheric pressure is 400 times that of here at ground level," she added.
Read Also : Titanic Tourist Sub Goes Missing in Atlantic
OceanGate, USCG Pointing Fingers About Response Time
Meanwhile, the New York Post reported conflicting statements between OceanGate management and the US Coast Guard regarding the speed of the rescue effort.
OceanGate legal adviser David Concannon said the equipment and crew the USCG needed to rescue the Titan could only be deployed once the mission was authorized. "That's unacceptable," he said. "I don't want to discourage the government officials that are helping because they're doing their jobs, but we need to do it quicker."
Concannon was supposed to join the five crew members of the Titan.
On the other hand, the USCG repeatedly stated that its main focus was to locate the Titan before deploying any vessel capable of rescuing it and the crew aboard. The force also told the Daily Mail it took OceanGate nearly eight hours to report that the Titan was missing after its mothership, the Polar Prince, lost contact with the vessel.
Both parties have yet to respond to The Post's request for further information.
This is a developing story. Please check back on HNGN later for more updates.
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