Race against time to find Titan submersible

Rescuers face a race against time to find the missing submersible exploring the wreck of the Titanic as its oxygen supply dwindles


CANADA
Boston
New York
U.S.
NEWFOUNDLAND
500km 310 miles
1 St. John’s
2 Wreck of Titanic
ATLANTIC OCEAN

3 Titan takes around two hours to descend to wreck

3,800m
4

 
TIMELINE
1 Jun 16: Canadian research vessel MV Polar Prince sets sail

2 Jun 18: Ship arrives near Titanic site

Crew locked inside. Hatch sealed from outside with 17 bolts

3 04:00 local time: Dive begins

4 05.45: Polar Prince loses contact with Titan

Jun 19: U.S. Coast Guard confirms sub has been missing for more than 24 hours


Titanic sank in April 1912 after hitting iceberg. Wreck lies around 3,800m deep

Drawing not to scale


ON BOARD (L-R): British businessman and explorer Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and son Suleman (not pictured), French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet, and pilot, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush

OceanGate Expeditions charges guests $250,000 for eight-day trip from St. John’s with 6-8 hour dive

TITAN: World’s only crewed submersible able to take five people as deep as 4,000m

Length: 6.7m

Height: 2.8m

Propulsion: 4 x electric thrusters. 2 vertical, 2 horizontal 

View port: 53cm wide

Speed: 3 knots

Weight: 10.4 tonnes

Hull: 12.7cm thick carbon-fibre

Caps: Titanium

Private toilet

Capacity: 5 – 1 pilot, 1 crew, 3 guests
Limited space to stand or sit

Jun 20, 13.00: U.S. Coast Guard estimates sub has only 40 hours of oxygen left, based on initial reports of 96 hours


Sources: OceanGate Expeditions, BBC
Pictures: Facebook/Hamish Harding, SETI Institute, Newscom, OceanGate
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