The search for the manned submarine in the Atlantic last night and morning also did not lead to any sign of life. Time is running out for the five occupants; the oxygen tanks begin to drain and are as expected around 7:18 a.m. local time completely exhausted – in the Netherlands that is around a quarter past one this afternoon. The submarine is designed to stay under water for a maximum of 96 hours (four days), the boat has been missing since Sunday morning.
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American rescuers, with help from Canada and France, are trying to trace the submarine under and above water with boats and planes, by scanning the seabed with cameras, among other things. Additional reinforcements will be added on Thursday. The search teams would have received sounds on Tuesday that may be traceable to the missing boat, the US Coast Guard reported. The rescuers have visited the area where the sound may have come from, but to no avail.
Much is still unclear about the submarine, which cannot be opened from the inside. For example, the question is what happened to the vessel. It is also unclear whether the boat is lying on the bottom of the ocean or is floating close to the surface of the water. In the first case, a complicated salvage operation would be necessary to get the submarine above the water. The chance of something like this succeeding before the oxygen runs out seems very small. In addition, there is a chance that the boat has imploded. Then there is no chance of survivors.
The manned submarine Titan disappeared from the radar local time on Sunday morning. At the time, the boat – about 6.7 meters long and 2.8 meters wide – was on a tourist expedition from Newfoundland, Canada, to the Titanic shipwreck at a depth of 3,800 metres. On board are four paying passengers and a captain, who pilots the craft with a video game controller. In addition to seats, the boat is equipped with a toilet; there was no food and hardly any water.