As the search for the missing Titan submersible continues, an expert has provided insight into the harrowing ordeal the crew may have experienced now that the oxygen supply is supposedly empty.
Initially embarking on Sunday with 96 hours of oxygen, the OceanGate sub had completed an exploratory dive around the Titanic shipwreck.
However, as the oxygen supply dwindled and supposedly ran out, a doctor has shed light on the alarming condition the crew members may be facing.
Speaking to the BBC, Dr. Ken LeDez, a hyperbaric medicine expert at Memorial University in St. John’s said “As levels of carbon dioxide build up, then it becomes sedative, it becomes like an anaesthetic gas, and you will go to sleep,” elaborated Dr. LeDez.
He emphasized that this process would occur gradually, comparing it to climbing a mountain, where the pace of ascent determines how quickly the effects take hold based on falling metabolism and decreasing temperature.
Dr. LeDez further noted that the crew members’ chances of survival may vary, depending on factors such as their ability to conserve oxygen and withstand the cold.
On Tuesday, a Canadian aircraft reported hearing a “banging” sound, which investigators are now working to locate and identify. During the recent press conference, US Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick admitted uncertainty regarding the nature of the noises. “We don’t know what [the noises] are, to be frank with you,” he confessed, while assuring that search efforts are focused on the area where the sounds were detected. Maintaining hope, Captain Frederick highlighted the involvement of multiple teams in the extensive search across the Atlantic Ocean.
Nevertheless, the five men and the submarine remain unaccounted for. The passengers include British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, his 19-year-old son Suleman, and OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush. The experienced French diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet was also on board and was the sole crew member present when the vessel mysteriously disappeared.
