Deadline for Oxygen Availability Soon to End, Search for Submersible Titan Expands

Titan underwater vehicles before diving. (Twitter/@OceanGateExped)

JAKARTA - The SAR team continues to make efforts to find the Titan submersible that disappeared while trying to get to the wreckage of the Titanic, ahead of the expiration of the 96-hour deadline for the availability of oxygen which fell today.

"We must remain optimistic and hopeful when we are in a search and rescue case," said Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard.

"We are in the midst of a search and rescue case. Sometimes we don't find what we are looking for and you have to weigh all the factors carefully," he continued.

Captain Frederick further said the search area had been expanded, with the search on the surface now twice as wide as Connecticut, while the search below the surface was about 2.5 miles.

"There are many factors that you have to consider. After considering all of these factors, sometimes you are in a position where you have to make a difficult decision. We are not there yet," said Captain Frederick.

"If we keep looking, maybe we can be at that point... And that is a discussion we will have with the family long before I discuss it here publicly," he said.

He underlined that officials and rescue teams must take into account changes in ocean currents.

"There are enormous complications being so far offshore," said Captain Frederick.

It is known that the submersible Titan, based on information from the operator, has an availability time of 96 hours since the connection was first lost or is estimated to be Thursday morning local time.

First District Commander (D1) US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger who led the search mission in an interview with CBS said, it is not easy to predict how much oxygen is left, because it is based on the consumption of Titan residents.

"One of the factors that makes it difficult to predict how much oxygen is left is because we don't know the level of oxygen consumption per passenger in the submersible," he said.