Titanic submarine’s oxygen finally runs out for five doomed passengers

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The missing Titanic tourist submarine has tragically run out of oxygen.

The US Coast Guard projected oxygen on OceanGate Explorations submersible 'Titan' would run out at 12.08pm UK time today (Thursday, June 22) with five doomed passengers on board.

The tiny, rudimentary vessel lost communication with its mothership Polar Prince roughly one hour and 45 minutes into its descent to the Titanic wreck on Sunday (June 18) when the men were left with just 96 hours of air.

READ MORE: See the Daily Star's live blog for the latest updates regarding the Titanic sub

Devastatingly, it looks as if time is up for OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani millionaire Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood (who live in Surrey) as well as French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

The last few hours would have been harrowing for those five men.

Dr Ken Ledez, the medical director of hyperbaric medicine at Memorial University, told the BBC that if the vessel lost power it could have lost its ability to regulate carbon dioxide levels.

Inhaling high levels of the gas can lead to hypercapnia – causing headaches, double vision and lack of concentration or suffocation.

Another possibility is that, without power, hypothermia set in.

It now awaits to be seen whether the search for Titan will continue. Rescuers said they would keep looking as long as it was feasibly possible anyone on board was still alive.

The Titanic wreck lies roughly 12,500ft below sea level in pitch black, freezing waters – making the chance of a rescue extremely slim from the outset.

Rescuers were hopeful the men could be saved after a Canadian aircraft using sonar buoys picked up noises from the deep. US authorities confirmed the noises were heard at half hour intervals for about four hours on Tuesday (June 20).

It gave hope that they were still alive. Nargeolet, an ex-naval officer, would have been aware of protocol for lost submarines that dictates those on board make as much noise as possible every half hour in the hope of aiding rescue teams.

Sadly though, it appears the combined efforts of multiple government agencies were not enough to pull off the near-impossible rescue mission in time.

Titan communicated with the mothership via text messages and also sent 'pings' every 15 minutes. According to The Times, sources said the final ping came at 3pm on Sunday (UK time) and showed Titan directly above the wreck of the Titanic.

It was claimed Titan also sent out a distress signal before communication was lost.

Dr Simon Boxall, an oceanographer at the University of Southampton, said: "Apparently they have had, and I don't know when… they have had an emergency ping saying the vessel is in distress. I don't know if that is automatically generated or generated by people on board."

Trips to the Titanic wreck on Titan cost £195,000 per head, but it has emerged the vessel itself was designed in a rudimentary manner.

CBS Sunday Morning's David Pogue was part of an OceanGate trip last summer and said Titan appeared as though it had been "improvised from off-the-shelf parts".

Describing the sub as "no bigger than a van", Pogue revealed it was piloted by a video game controller, its lighting was purchased from a camping shop, and it used construction pipes as ballast.

Pogue also revealed that Titan had not been approved by any regulatory body – meaning all passengers had to sign a waiver before taking the plunge.

He recalled the waiver as stating: "This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death."

Former passenger and The Simpsons writer Mike Reiss told the BBC that the waiver mentioned "death" three times on the first page.

Thrill-seeker Chris Brown claimed he paid his deposit to join the men on the doomed trip but pulled out at the last minute, accusing OceanGate of "cutting too many corners".

Speaking to The Sun, Chris said: "I found out they used old scaffolding poles for the sub's ballast. If you're trying to build your own submarine you could probably use old scaffold poles. But this was a commercial craft."

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