Missing bathyscaphe: 10 hours of oxygen left

Oxygen in the bathyscaphe “Titan”, which disappeared on Sunday, is negligible – less than 10 hours. But the rescue operation continues at a rapid pace – there is still a chance to save the crew.

As Tim Maltin, an expert on the study of the remains of the Titanic, told CNN, the crew can stretch their oxygen supply for a day if they refuse to talk. The latest news known at the moment, when only a few hours remain to save the crew of the submarine, leads edition Air Force:

1. The US Coast Guard has calculated that those on board could run out of oxygen at 07:18 ET in the US – that’s 12:18 AM in the UK.
2. Rescue officials say they must remain “optimistic and hopeful” – 10 additional ships and several remote submarines will join the search today, more than doubling the volume of search operations.
3. The captain in charge of the search said, “To be honest, we don’t know where they are.”
4. The search territory expanded due to the sounds detected on Tuesday and Wednesday. This is currently an area twice the size of the state of Connecticut and an area of ​​subsurface 2.5 miles (4 km) deep.

It is not clear whether the detected sounds came from the bathyscaphe. The Polar Prince, the research vessel that launched the Titan, will remain a search command center located near the Titanic wreck. Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) equipped with cameras will scan the depths of the seabed throughout the day.

Rescuers search the subsurface area at a depth of about 4 km to find the missing Titan. It’s a harsh environment, writes the BBC, more like space than life on Earth. The Titanic is located in an area called the Midnight Zone, known for its freezing temperatures and perpetual darkness.

People who have taken part in previous expeditions to Titan have described how they descended for more than two hours in pitch darkness before finally suddenly crashing to the bottom of the ocean. The lights of the submersible provide limited visibility, but no more than a few meters. Rescuers will now have to contend with these conditions while the search continues.

Former US Navy nuclear submarine commander David Marche warns that reassuring soundsdiscovered in recent hours may not come from the Titan submarine:

“I don’t think the noise is from them, it could just be natural sounds. We hear noise and more ships are coming into the area and then we hear more noise and I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”

Captain Marquet believes the chances of survival for those on board are slim, but slightly improved because the equipment needed to lift the Titan is now on the way.

Earlier we wrote that on board the Titan submarine lost in the Atlantic Ocean there are five peoplewith a total asset value of about $10 billion.

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