- The bureaucratic delays faced by the company that owns the missing Titanic submersible have come under criticism.
- The company claims that vital equipment is being held up by US officials.
- The search for the missing submersible, which went missing on Sunday, is currently underway.
The mission to find a submersible with five people trapped on board is facing delays due to US officials’ slow approval of necessary paperwork for search and rescue equipment, according to a spokesperson for the company that owns the submersible.
The Titanic submersible, operated by tourism company OceanGate, went missing on Sunday while on a trip to the wreckage of the Titanic. Contact with its support vessel was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into the trip, as reported by the Coast Guard.
—NewsNation (@NewsNation) June 20, 2023
David Concannon, an advisor to OceanGate, informed NewsNation that crucial search and rescue equipment is stuck on a plane in Guernsey, UK, awaiting approval from US officials.
“The same experts who conducted an advanced survey of the Titanic last year are ready to go. They are mobilized and waiting on the tarmac. We have a ship prepared to take them to the site in Newfoundland,” said Concannon.
The urgency of the situation is increasing, as the submersible is believed to have had around 96 hours of oxygen when it began its journey over 2.3 miles beneath the sea. If the vessel is still intact, the crew could run out of oxygen by Thursday afternoon.
“We have lives at stake. We need to act now. The equipment has been waiting on the tarmac for hours,” emphasized Concannon.
He expressed his frustration with US government officials, stating that he receives “out of office” replies when trying to communicate with them for approval.
The search and rescue effort is being led by the US Coast Guard, with support from the Canadian coast guard and military. The US Coast Guard has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Concannon, who is an attorney and rescue diver, revealed to the Associated Press that he was initially supposed to be on the submersible but had to cancel due to an urgent client matter. He mentioned that officials are working on getting a remote operated vehicle capable of operating at depths of up to 3.7 miles to the search site.
The search is taking place approximately 435 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, where the RMS Titanic sank during its maiden voyage in 1912, resulting in the loss of thousands of passengers and crew members.
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