As the search for the missing Titanic submersible continues, an investor of the company behind the mission has claimed the vessel is designed to resurface after 24 hours.
Aaron Newman, an investor in OceanGate who dove to the Titanic wreckage in the Titan in 2021, revealed to CNN that the 21-foot submersible is designed to resurface after 24 hours by releasing the ballasts, heavy weights that help stabilize and hold the vessel underwater.
“It is designed to come back up,” Newman stated.
Newman further explained that the lines securing the ballasts are designed to fall apart after 24 hours, automatically sending the submersible back to the surface. In the event of an emergency, however, crew members can release the ballasts manually, either by rocking the ship or using a pneumatic pump.
Oxygen is running out as the search for the Titanic submersible approaches a critical stage.
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Josh Gates, a Discovery Channel host who also took a dive in the Titan in 2021, told CNN in a separate report there were four ways to get the submersible to resurface. According to Gates, there is a computer-controlled weight release, a manual-valve system that injects air into exterior ballast containers and a hydraulic system designed to drop the weights. The submersible can also detach from its sled which helps the vessel resurface.
Even if the Titan has resurfaced, however, the passengers have no way of exiting the vessel as they are dead-bolted in from the outside, making the search for the missing submersible all the more desperate as oxygen stores deplete. With just 96 hours of oxygen purported to be on board, the Titan’s crew, missing since Sunday, will need a “miracle” to get out of this situation alive. (RELATED: ‘Dangerous Environment’: Titanic Expedition Leader Holding Out Little Hope For Lost Submersible)
“The good news there is that miracles can happen,” David Gallo, the senior adviser for Strategic Initiatives at RMS Titanic Inc, told CNN.