Rear Admiral John Mauger of the US Coast Guard told the BBC that the crew on the Titan submarine may have had less than 20 hours of oxygen left, compared to an initial estimate of 96 hours.
It’s difficult to determine exactly how much time they have left due to various factors, but time is running out, Mauger said.
Contact with the small vessel was lost 1 hour and 45 minutes after the dive on Sunday.
Institutions from the USA and Canada are also participating in the rescue work that continues in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
British billionaire businessman Hamish Harding is among those who participated in the Titanic cruise on the submarine.
Pakistani businessperson Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleiman also participated in the dive.
The French explorer named Paul-Henry Nargeolet is also thought to be on the submarine.
It is reported that the CEO of OceanGate, which organizes the dive, is also in the vehicle.
Rear Admiral Mauger said in his previous statement that they were focused on dispatching as many rescue vehicles as possible to the area.
Airborne military aircraft, naval sonar devices and submarines are also participating in the search for the missing mini-watercraft.
THE MINI BOAT WAS LOCKING FROM THE OUTSIDE
The Titanic wreck is located 700 kilometers south of St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada’s easternmost coast. However, the rescue operation is being conducted from Boston, USA.
The lost mini watercraft is thought to be a model of OceanGate named Titan. CBS television journalist David Pogue was among the crew that plunged the Titanic in this vehicle last year.
Speaking to the BBC, Pogue stated that the support ship on the surface is in the immediate projection of the submarine during the dive and that short messages can be exchanged.
Pogue also said that the vehicle was locked from the outside and that the occupants had no chance of escaping on their own.
This type of navy, unlike submarines, can move with limited power. He is released overboard from a support ship and pulled back to the deck.
US Rear Admiral Mauger said that the rescue operation was carried out at a remote location and this made the work difficult.
“TOMORROW WE WILL TRY TO DIVE”
British businessman Harding announced on his social media account before diving that he was proud to be among the team that landed on the Titanic wreck.
In the same post, Harding stated that the region has experienced the worst winter in the last 40 years and therefore it is likely to be the first and only manned dive in 2023.
Later, in a post he made, he gave the message “The weather has cleared enough to allow diving, we will try diving tomorrow”.
For the Titanic dive, tourists pay an amount of 250 thousand dollars per person for an 8-day trip.
OceanGate defines this journey as “a chance to get out of everyday life and have an extraordinary experience”.
The Titanic is among the most important shipwrecks in history.
The Titanic, the largest ship of its time, sank after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York, USA, in 1912.
At least 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers and crew on board died.
The wreckage of the Titanic has been extensively researched since its discovery in 1985.