There are only a few hours of oxygen left!: They hear explosions every 30 minutes in the Titan submarine, an unsafe submarine piloted with a 2005 video game controller

There is less than 28 hours of oxygen left for the five passengers of the tourist submarine Titan, which has disappeared in the waters of the Atlantic since Sunday, June 18, 2023.

There are fears for the lives of the five men – including a father and son – who paid to go into the Atlantic Ocean to explore and admire the Titanic’s wreckage.

Amid desperate searches, the United States Coast Guard made a hopeful announcement: “Noises have been detected in the watercraft search area.”

These sounds were said to have been recorded every 30 minutes, according to information that the press had access to.

The AFP bureau reported that “the Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater sounds in the search area. As a result, ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) operations have been moved in an effort to investigate the source of the noises,” the US Coast Guard 1st District said on Twitter.

Searches for the ROV “have yielded negative results, but are continuing,” the military maritime division added.

The latter was expanded upon by the Daily Mail: Coast Guard officials confirmed that an aircraft heard underwater noise and operations “moved” to determine the source. But since the early hours of this Wednesday, they “gave negative results”.

The warning message from one of the submarine’s passengers who was supposed to see the remains of the Titanic

Oxygen reserves are depleted

The announcement was the most encouraging sign for the French agency that tourists aboard the 6.5-meter Titan submarine could be alive.

The passing of the hours, however, torments the rescuers: they fear that the air reserve is running out.

Every second feels like hours

Daily mail

The submarine, dubbed Titan, “lost communication with tour operators on Sunday while about 700 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, on a voyage to the wreck off the coast of Canada.”

the five passengers

According to British media:

A French ship, drones and planes search for the tourist submarine that was bound for the Titanic and disappeared on Sunday

Is the Titan submarine controlled with a video game controller?

A version on the submarine’s controls has been published by El Economista. They reported that it was possible to verify that “this submarine was controlled with a Logitech video game controller launched in 2005 and that it had been converted into a ship control tool.

Despite the fact that the submarine appears to be made with the “most advanced technology”, the Spanish site literally assures, “it is controlled with a remote control from 2005 that can be bought for less than 40 euros ($43)”.

That same information was reviewed by Antena 3 when describing the interior: “It’s without seats and controlled with a video game controller.”

That Spanish site emphasized the controls: “The main tool to control the missing submarine is a 2005 Logitech F710 controller.”

How is the inside of the Titan submarine controlled with a PlayStation controller

Inside the submarine

According to the specifications in El Economista, these five passengers are in the narrow interior of the Titan, which has few facilities and has an observation gantry 21 inches in diameter on one side, which allows passengers to see the sea depths.

Only one of the passengers can fully extend their legs at a time

Telemundo news

Once the travelers enter the Titan, the cylindrical capsule is sealed from the outside. The air inside is refreshed in the same way as in a spaceship, while the internal pressure remains constant.

The submarine, authorities have said, belongs to the OceanGate Expeditions company and “is made of carbon fiber and titanium”.

The story of the Mexican youtuber who traveled to see the remains of the Titanic

Background with Titan submarine

Two antecedents, from events that apparently took place in 2022, have been doing the rounds about the tourist submarine.

During a dive in 2022, Titan passengers witnessed problems with the ship’s propellers.

“Oh no. We have a problem, submarine pilot Scott Griffith said at the time,” said the BBC and El Economista review.

While, according to Noticias Telemundo, “David Pogue, a correspondent for CBS News, assured that the submarine was “lost on the seabed for a few hours” during its trip last year to visit the site of the remains of the Titanic. past”.

Was there a risk warning?

Have the experts already informed OceanGate of Titan’s “catastrophic” problems, as the European press has noted in recent hours.

It took OceanGate eight hours to notify the Boston Coast Guard of the missing submarine after it lost contact

According to Antena 3 – which quotes the ‘New York Times’ – more than 30 experts from the Marine Technology Society sent a letter to the executive director of OceanGate in 2018.

It is certain that they have expressed the “unanimous concern” about the Titan submarine. Antena 3 published: The authors warned that the company’s “current experimental approach” could cause problems “from minor to catastrophic.” They even went so far as to admit that they were lying about the design and safety.

Presumably, as Spanish media reported, OceanGate would have declined to comment on the letter.