Time’s Up: Titanic Sub Past 96-Hour Mark, Coastguard Says ‘Banging’ Noise is Just the Sea

The submersible Titan dived with two members of crew and three passengers in the early hours of Sunday morning and was due to stay underwater on a tour of the wreckage of the RMS Titanic until that afternoon. Approximately an hour and three quarters into the descent, the vessel lost contact with the surface and the alarm was raised later that day.

An international effort at locating the Titan is underway, with Canadian, U.S., French, and private ships and aircraft assisting with the increasingly urgent effort. Diving robots that can withstand the enormous pressure of the deep water around the Titanic wreck are also in use.

When the Titan departed its mothership, it was carrying approximately 96-hours of emergency oxygen onboard, a reserve which — at estimated usage — would have run out this morning. But as reported, the deadline is hard to accurately pin down as so much is unknown about the state of the craft, the health of those onboard, and how quickly they are consuming oxygen.

It may be the case, tragically, that the craft and all those onboard may have been destroyed instantly on Sunday if the Titan suffered a hull failure in the enromous pressure of the two-mile-deep waters around the Titanic. On the other hand an electrical failure may have deprived the craft of power and heating and hypothermia could leave the occupants unconcious but alive, and consequently using much less oxygen.