The US Coast Guard has given the bleak warning that it may not be able to rescue the missing Titanic tourist sub – even if it is able to find it.
The Titan submersible has been missing since 9.45am on Sunday morning after being launched into the Atlantic at 8am.
There are five people onboard including three wealthy tourists. The submersible’s oxygen supply for the five people on board is now just 40 hours.
At a press conference at the US Coast Guard Station in Boston – which is coordinating the search and rescue effort – First District Response Coordinator Capt. Jamie Frederick said it was not certain the sub could be saved – even if it is found today.
‘Even with that amount of time left, if you were to find the submersible at this moment, would that give you enough time to save those five people on board?’ he was asked.
At a press conference at the US Coast Guard Station in Boston – which is coordinating the search and rescue effort – First District Response Coordinator Capt. Jamie Frederick said it was not certain the sub could be saved – even if it is found today
The company’s Titan sub submerged at 8am on Sunday morning around 400 miles southeast of St John’s, Newfoundland, according to the US Coast Guard. It lost contact at 9.45am but it wasn’t reported to the Coast Guard until 5.40pm
‘I don’t know the answer to that question… all I know is we will do everything within our power to effect a rescue,’ Frederick replied.
The Coast Guard has already searched 7,600 square miles of ocean – a search area the size of Connecticut.
At 12,500ft underwater, there are few vessels able to dive deeply enough to find it.
The only ones able to search the ocean floor are remotely operated vehicles which are searching the ocean now.
If they find the sub, getting it to the surface is another feat entirely, requiring specialist equipment that is not yet on-site.
Other experts likened it to requiring a 2.5mile long cable to lasso to the far side of the moon.
There are multiple civilian ships assisting in the search, along with US Navy, Canadian Navy ships and aircraft.
Among pieces of equipment now on the way to the site is a decompression chamber for the five passengers, should they be brought to the surface.
‘Getting salvage equipment on-scene is a top priority,’ Frederick said.
Shahzada Dawood, 48, (pictured with his wife Christine) a UK-based board member of the Prince’s Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are amongst the five people missing in the submarine that set off to see the wreck of the Titanic, it was revealed today
Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured), CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there on Sunday
French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition, along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition
The search site is some 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, 400 miles southeast of Newfoundland. Getting there is a difficult enough feat without finding the missing sub beneath the ocean surface
At 9.45am – an hour and 45 minutes into the dive – it lost contact with its mothership, the Polar Prince. But it wasn’t reported as missing to the US Coast Guard until 5.40pm, eight hours later. Canada ‘s Coast Guard wasn’t alerted until even later – 9.13pm on Sunday night.
The logistical challenge is immense; the Titanic wreck is situated some 400 miles southeast of St Johns, Newfoundland – around 900 miles east of Cape Cod.
A Canadian Coast Guard cutter is expected to arrive at the search area this evening.
It takes several days for Coast Guard ships to reach the site from the US.
In addition to the underwater remote operated vehicles and Coast Guard ships, several aircraft are surveying the water for any signs of the sub on the surface.
‘We don’t want to exhaust one possibility in place of another. We don’t want to rule out that it is on the surface.
‘If it is on the surface we are fairly certain we will be able to find it,’ U.S. Coast Guard First District Captain Robert Simpson added.
DailyMail.com previously revealed it took OceanGate eight hours to report the submersible as missing.
The company has not yet explained why it took so long to raise the alarm.
The 21ft submersible has an oxygen supply of up to 96 hours