Time has expired in the search for a missing submersible lost near the wreck of the Titanic – with the five people onboard now confirmed dead.
The 21ft Titan lost contact with its mother ship Sunday as it descended roughly 12,500 feet toward the ocean floor – where pieces of the vessel were found Thursday by a remote-operated rescue submarine.
The discovery served as markedly disheartening, as many hoped the nail-biting search for the potentially trapped passengers would result in a rescue.
Those hopes, however, have since been dashed – with the rescue operation now shifting to that of a less time-sensitive search.
That effort, however, could still prove cumbersome – given the ocean’s unforgiving environment, and the increasing likelihood the vessel itself is likely no more.
A breach of the Titan’s hull at that depth would also mean instant death, due to intense pressure levels at the site of the historic wreck, experts say.
Time has expired in the search for a missing submersible lost near the wreck of the Titanic – with the five people onboard now believed to be lost as well
The 21ft Titan lost contact with its mother ship Sunday as it descended roughly 12,500 feet toward the ocean floor – where pieces of the vessel were found Thursday by a remote-operated rescue submarine
Where is the Titanic wreckage?
The wreck of the Titanic (12,500ft) is far below the level of water pressure humans can withstand without the protection of a submersible. Experts say if the Titan’s hull was breached did occur experts say the likelihood of survival is almost zero
Long lost in an area of the Atlantic near Newfoundland dubbed ‘Iceberg Alley,’ much of the ship’s hull was found in 1985 on ocean floor near where it sank more than 70 years prior.
The barnacle covered boat was found roughly 400 miles off the Canadian coast, and more than two miles below the sea’s surface – where pressure levels become problematic.
That said, nearly 40 years after the discovery, only a handful have actually laid eyes on the lost vessel, which set out from Southampton to New York City in April 1912 before sinking.
Moreover, the wreckage remains still at the site today due to the difficulties of a retrieval operation at such depths – where the pressure is more than 10 times what the most seasoned of deep-sea divers could stand.
What is the pressure at the site in PSI?
While some animals can survive at extreme depths thanks to extreme adaptations human beings can only go about 400ft unaided by modern technology
Following Thursday’s discovery, it is assumed that a hull breach caused the small five-person craft to implode on itself with the occupants still on board.
With the ship now in pieces, the passengers likely suffered the same fate. Thankfully, experts say their death, due to the intense pressure recorded at 12,500 feet – or 3,800 meters – below sea level.
In terms of atmospheres – a unit of measurement used to quantify pressure by comparing it to the pressure at sea level (1 atmosphere) – the water pressure at the site of the Titanic wreck is roughly 400 atmospheres, or 400 times that of what most are accustomed to.
In terms of pounds per square-inch (PSI), another, more popular pressure unit, the pressure at those depths is around 6,000 PSI. For reference, pressure at sea level is around 14.7 psi.
Dr Nicolai Roterman, a deep-sea ecologist at the University of Portsmouth, said if such an accident did occur, the pressure would have killed the occupants instantly – a theory that’s been echoed several times by scientists versed in such subjects.
‘If there was any kind of hull breach, the occupants would succumb to the ocean in a near instant, given the more than 5,500 pounds per square inch pressure exerted by the ocean at the depth of 3,800m (12,467ft),’ Roterman said.
Florida-based senior research scientist Steve Somlyody had an almost identical assessment Thursday, telling Fox News the passengers ‘wouldn’t even know it happened’.
‘The pressure down there at 4,000 meters is pretty high. About 5,800 PSI at Titanic depth,’ he said. ‘If they had any kind of leak, it would lead to an implosion and it would happen in an instant, very immediately.’
Greg Stone, a California-based oceanographer who has been on similar submersibles, added, ‘If there was a pressure failure, it’s going to be very fast and it’s just going to be over in a second.’
Will they ever be able to recover the bodies?
Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman were on board the ill-fated Titan, along with British billionaire Hamish Harding. All three are presumed dead after the ship imploded nearly 12,500 feet below the surface
French explorer PH Nargeolet and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush are among those trapped on the submersible
With the fate of the five souls more than likely sealed, search officials are now faced with the looming task of locating – and potentially retrieving – what may remain.
That, however, could be a fool’s errand – given the fact the intense pressure at such a depth would make a retrieval operation a slow, arduous process, and more than likely leave not much left to bring back to the surface.
Compounding those difficulties is the fact that debris from the Titanic is spread out over a kilometer, and underwater currents that could move what’s left of the crew from their submerged resting place.
Jeff Karson, a professor emeritus of earth and environmental sciences at Syracuse University, said, if intact, the submersible is essentially ‘another lump down there’ – and given the fact the ship is likely no more, it and its contents will be hard to find.
Lawrence Brennan, a professor at Fordham University’s School of Law, described the situation to PBS as one of the worse case scenarios.
With the fate of the five souls more than likely sealed, search officials are now faced with the looming task of locating – and potentially retrieving – what may remain. That, however, could be a fool’s errand – given the fact the intense pressure at such a depth would make a retrieval operation a slow, arduous process, and more than likely leave not much left to bring back
To even make an effort, Brennan said, rescuers would need equipment ‘that are not available presently,’ and extremely expensive – which, even then, would leave a slim chance of finding anything noteworthy, aside from more debris.
‘Equipment used for deepwater oil drilling could work, but that equipment likely isn’t anywhere near the search site,’ he said.
Their search effort, as of Thursday, continues.
