Pakistan is making international headlines but not for the right reasons. We are escaping illegally at one end and on another paying hefty amount to see wreckage. Titanic was the most romantic tragedy of 20th century. RMS Titanic left a deep impact on the whole world. Specially after the movie was released, seeing the curiosity of public OceanGate Expeditions seize the opportunity to launch a tourist submarine to the wreckage site.
Despite the offerings of a chance to see the wreckage, very few people have actually taken the journey to the ship’s remains. Only 250 people have ever visited — including Mr Cameron — as an eight-day diving tour costs approximately $250,000 per guest, according to the website.
But the big news is that the last submarine has disappeared, sparking a race against time to find the missing individuals onboard.
Before we get into the loophole of the whole plan lets take a trip down memory lane and reminisce the glory details of RMS Titanic.
Where is the Titanic wreckage?
The RMS Titanic’s final resting spot is approximately 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada in the North Atlantic Ocean. It sank in 1912, killing approximately 1,500 people on board.
The wreckage was discovered in 1985 and named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2012. Since its discovery — and thanks in part to James Cameron’s iconic film about the ship’s final hours — the ship and its fate have captured the public’s imagination.
How did the Titanic sink and how many people died?
The ship famously began to sink after it struck an iceberg just before midnight during its maiden voyage. The collision caused a dent in the ship’s submerged hull, which then caused its seams to buckle. Five of its interior compartments flooded, dooming the ship.
The ship sank for hours, but it only carried enough lifeboats to evacuate approximately half of the passengers. Shortly after 2am, the ship’s sinking accelerated as its deck dipped below the waterline. The ship’s stern rose out of the water, exposing the propeller, and then snapped in half. Its stern remained nearly vertical for several minutes before it crashed back to the waves and sunk.
Many of the passengers and crew who fell into the icy waters died within minutes due to cardiac arrest due to cold exposure or drowning. A total of 1,500 passengers died.
The list of weathy and notable passengers who died on the ship helped to secure the Titanic’s place in history. Among the dead was John Jacob Astor IV, who was believed to be among the richest men in the world at the time he died. His net worth was estimated to be $87m, which would be the equivalent of $2.4bn in 2022.
The ship’s wreckage eventually settled on the ocean floor approximately 12,500 feet — or 3,800 m — below the surface.
OceanGate Expeditions’ Titan submersible is capable of extremely deep dive expeditions, and carries enough life support equipment to keep a crew of five alive for up to 96 hours, according to its website.
Despite the offerings of a chance to see the wreckage, very few people have actually taken the journey to the ship’s remains. Only 250 people have ever visited — including Mr Cameron — as an eight-day diving tour costs approximately $250,000 per guest, according to the website.
Researchers and tourists may be in a rush to visit the site, as experts believe that the quickly eroding remains may be fully lost by the year 2030. Current research at the site is barred from removing or disturbing the remains at the site.
OceanGate said its focus now is on locating the missing and returning them to their families.
“Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families,” OceanGate said to CBS News.
Submersible to run out of air in just a few hours
The Titan submersible set off with 96 hours of air, according to the company, which would mean the oxygen could run on Thursday morning.
However, experts say the air supply depends on a range of factors, including whether the submersible still has power and how calm the people aboard have remained.
The 22-foot submersible, operated by US-based OceanGate Expeditions, began its descent at 8 am on Sunday. It lost contact with its surface support ship near the end of what should have been a two-hour dive to the Titanic.
Those aboard the submersible which costs $250,000 per person, included British billionaire and adventurer Hamish Harding, Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son Suleman, who are both British citizens.
French oceanographer and leading Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, and Stockton Rush, founder and chief executive of OceanGate, were also reported to be on board.
A Canadian aircraft searching for the sub in the Atlantic Ocean detected intermittent “banging” noises from the vicinity of its last known location, the US Coast Guard said.
Crew searching for the missing sub heard banging sounds every 30 minutes on Tuesday and again four hours later on Wednesday after additional sonar devices were deployed. However, the source of the sound has been found yet.
