OceanGate Expeditions, the company offering dives to the wreck of the Titanic, has identified the five crew members aboard the missing submarine. The crew now faces the risk of hypothermia and oxygen loss.
The people onboard the sub named Titan were identified as OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who acts as Titan's captain, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British billionaire Hamish Harding, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Sulaiman.
The Titan was last seen being towed by her mothership MV Polar Prince from the port of St. John's, Newfoundland, on Canada's Atlantic coast on June 17 and was launched early morning the next day (June 18). The last time the Polar Prince received communication from the sub was when she last "pinged" while directly above the Titanic wreck.
Families Hope for the Best, Fear for the Worst
The families of the passengers expressed their concern regarding their relatives on board the Titan.
The Dawood family, one of the richest in Pakistan with business connections with the UK, said they are "grateful for the concern being shown by [their] colleagues and friends." They also ask the public to pray for the safety of all on board while respecting the family's privacy.
Meanwhile, Harding's stepson Brian Szasz confirmed on Facebook his stepfather was on board the Titan. "Thoughts and prayers for my stepfather Hamish Harding as his submarine has gone missing exploring Titanic," he said.
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Submarine Experts: Time is Running Out for Sub's Passengers
RMS Titanic Inc. senior adviser David Gallo told CNN time is running out for the passengers of the missing sub if they would not be able to come back to the ocean surface. He said the journey from the surface to the Titanic would take roughly "two and a half hours."
"Certainly, time is against us at this point," he assessed. "The only thing that we can say is that everything that can be done is being done."
It is believed the Titan has enough oxygen to last underwater until 07:00 US Eastern Time (11:00 UTC) on June 22. There are also fears the Titan was too deep for a manned rescue sub and that the only way to reach the crew was using a remote-operated vehicle that could reach a maximum depth of 20,000ft (almost 6,100m).
Gallo said if the Titan would be located, the rescue crew would find it difficult to rescue the passengers on board.
As for the cause of the loss of communication, experts currently have varied scenarios in mind ranging from a simple loss of power to a catastrophic failure to its pressure housing.
Rescue Efforts
The US and Canadian Coast Guards are racing against time as they conduct a joint search and rescue operation to find the Titan.
"We have to make sure that we're looking on both the surface -- using aerial and surface vessels -- but [also] expanding into underwater search as well," said US Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger in a news conference Monday (June 19).
This is a developing story. Please check back on HNGN later for more updates.
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