The five persons aboard the deep-diving submarine Titan, which was supposed to have returned from a dive to the Titanic wreckage on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday (June 18), may face numerous difficulties in their attempt to be rescued.
In any search and rescue effort at sea, the weather, the sea’s condition, the water temperature, and the absence of nighttime light can all affect the success of the mission. The components that go into a successful rescue under the waves are much more varied and challenging.
Many underwater vehicles are equipped with an acoustic device, sometimes referred to as a pinger, that emits sounds that rescuers may hear underwater. It’s uncertain if Titan has one.
According to reports, the submersible lost communication with its support ship an hour and 45 minutes into what is usually a 2-and-a-half-hour dive to the Titanic’s location at the bottom.
The only plausible means of rescue would be via an unmanned craft or underwater drone
There may be an issue with Titan’s communication technology or the ballast system, which regulates the spacecraft’s fall and ascent by pumping water into tanks to descend and air out of the tanks to ascend.
Being fouled, or stuck on a piece of debris, would be another potential risk for the vessel and prevent it from being able to surface.
The great depths limit the potential means for rescue if the submersible is stuck at the bottom.
Human divers can safely descend just a few hundred feet below the surface before needing to spend a significant amount of time decompressing on the way back up, provided they are wearing specific equipment and inhaling helium-rich air mixtures. A few hundred feet below the surface, the sun’s rays can no longer shine through the water, and darkness is in charge.
The Titanic lies in the North Atlantic at a depth of roughly 14,000 feet, which only specially designed submersibles capable of keeping their passengers warm, dry, and supplied with breathable air can get people to.
The only plausible means of rescue would be via an unmanned craft or underwater drone. There is just one submarine rescue vessel in the U.S. Navy, and it is only capable of diving to 2,000 feet. The Navy uses what it refers to as remote-operated vehicles to recover items from the ocean floor in deeper water, like the one it used to recover an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that had crashed in the South China Sea in early 2022 at a depth of around 12,400 feet. The CURV-21 vehicle has a 20,000-foot depth limit.
The Titan can keep its five occupants alive for approximately 96 hours
It takes time to transport the proper equipment, such as a remote vehicle like the CURV-21, to the site, beginning with transferring it to a ship that can do so.
The Titanic’s wreck is around 370 miles south of Newfoundland, and ships that can transport something like the Navy’s deepest-diving robot typically travel at a speed of little more than 20 mph.
The Titan can keep its five occupants alive for almost 96 hours, claims OceanGate’s website. In many submersibles, the air is recycled by removing carbon dioxide and adding oxygen, but given enough time, the submersible will be unable to remove enough carbon dioxide, and the air inside will no longer be able to support life.
The Titan’s passengers may get hypothermia and eventually lose the ability to survive if the batteries run out and the heaters that keep them warm in the cold deep are unable to operate. If the pressure hull of the submersible failed, everyone on board would die instantly.