The missing Titanic submersible with five people on board is yet to be located even as the search and rescue mission being undertaken by the U.S Coast Guard and Canadian military expand their scope of search.
The submersible was first reported missing on Tuesday after its guide ship reported losing contact with the sub.
The sub which is owned by the OceanGate expeditions had five people on board including a Pakistani father, Shahzada Dawood and his son, Sulayman alongside three others who include the pilot of sub and owner.
The family of Dawood have released a statement expressing hope for the missing sub to be located and continue praying for a better outcome:
“As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available,” the Dawood family statement said.
“A rescue effort that is being jointly led by multiple government agencies and deep-sea companies is underway to reestablish contact with the submersible and bring them back safely.
“We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time. The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members.”
There was a slight glimmer of hope on Wednesday after a Canadian aircraft that was involved in the high-stakes search reported that they have picked up a sonar signal of ‘banging’ sounds from the ocean.
This has been translated by marine experts as a likely ‘SOS’ from the subs occupants. However, no further progress has been made as the search and rescue mission could not precisely place where the banging noises were coming from.
The concern, however, is the fact that the passengers on the Sub have less than 12 hours of Oxygen supply which is causing a major anxiety among the family of occupants and the search and rescue team.
Some experts, however, express grim opinions regarding the fate of the missing sub and it’s occupants with some stating that the missing crew only have a one percent(1%) chance of survival.
They further add that “even in the event the sub is located, their chances of survival only increase to fifteen percent(15%).
The grim analysis is informed by the fact that this particular sub is nearly thirteen thousand feet deep on the ocean floor while the lowest rescued sub ever was at slightly below two thousand feet.
The wreck of the Titanic has been held in awe ever since it sank more than a hundred years ago and a few people have managed to reach it.
Update on the missing submersible
The U.S Coast Guard has since confirmed the spotting of the debris of the ill-fated sub some 1600 feet from the stern of the Titanic wreck. The debris was spotted by a French underwater equipment that was deployed into the area following the report of the missing sub.
Questions have been raised about the safety of the OceanGate vessel with a video of the CEO admitting to ‘breaking some rules’ in having the sub approved by maritime authorities. Many experts have voiced opinion regarding the implosion of the Titan saying it was likely that the failure may have emanated from the Carbon fibre component used in the glass window of the submersible.
It now turns out that an industry-wide experts had in 2018 written a letter to the OceanGate company raising concerns about the safety of their submersible, which, it now turns out, wasn’t heeded. It has also emerged that the submersible was only an experimental vessel and passengers, who parted with a quarter of a million dollars signed release clauses exonerating the company of any wrong-doing or legal suits ‘in the event of injury, failure or death.’
Below is a video of the report as broadcasted by CNN:
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