As concerns grow about possible low oxygen levels on board, the massive search for a missing submersible vessel close to the Titanic wreck has reached a critical stage.
According to earlier calculations, if the sub is still operational and intact, it might only have a small amount of oxygen left.
With a four-day supply of oxygen for its five crew, it vanished on Sunday in a remote area of the North Atlantic.
And as of Thursday, many unanswered questions about how it could be recovered remained.
OceanGate Expeditions, a private company, owned and operated the minivan-sized submersible, but it has not yet been found. If it is discovered, it will need to be reached with sophisticated rescue tools, and the operation would probably take hours.
Before the oxygen supply runs out, that would need to occur without endangering the people on board or harming the ship's structure.
Although the five-person crew's condition is unknown, the US Coast Guard stated that the operation is still one of rescue. Captain Jamie Frederick told reporters on Wednesday that "this is absolutely a search-and-rescue mission.".
As soon as officials announced that Canadian search planes had picked up on undersea noises on Tuesday and Wednesday, there seemed to be some hope.
However, it is still unknown what these were, and authorities claimed they might not have originated from the submersible. Despite being deployed to the area where the sounds were heard, remote-controlled underwater search vehicles (ROVs) have not yet discovered anything.
On Thursday, more ROVs and international assistance were anticipated to arrive at the location.
On Thursday morning, tracking information showed the French research ship Atalante, which is carrying a specialized deep-sea diving robot, was getting close to the area. That robot has experience surveying the Titanic and is capable of researching the depths beneath the wreck, which is located about 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) below the surface.
About 26,000 square kilometers (10,000 square miles)—more than twice the size of the US state of Connecticut—of the ocean are currently being swept up. Experts say that because of the region's propensity for stormy weather and poor visibility, search operations are more difficult.
British businessman Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, former French navy diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush are all present on the 21-foot vessel.
We don't know the rate of oxygen consumption per occupant on the sub, which is one of the factors that makes it difficult to predict how much oxygen is left, Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard told the BBC.
According to Dr. Ken LeDez of Memorial University in St. John's, Newfoundland, who specializes in hyperbaric medicine, the crew may be able to survive even as oxygen supplies are depleted, depending on their physical condition and the submersible's environment.
While it is impossible to know the exact circumstances inside, Dr. LeDez said the crew will probably experience rising carbon dioxide levels and could also encounter low temperatures in addition to the declining oxygen levels.
He warned that the culmination of these factors could cause hypothermia and unconsciousness. He continued, "But these conditions aren't always fatal, and their metabolisms slowing down because of the cold might help them survive longer.".
They possess a high level of intelligence. extremely accomplished individuals there," he said. These people are the only ones who "can survive" in it.
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