Jania Ashlynn
The OceanGate sub is reportedly out of breathing air. Tt was set to run out on Thursday, June 22, at approximately 6:00 a.m. EST. According to CBS, the vessel had around 96 hours of oxygen when it began its dive on Sunday, per US Coast Guard officials.
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“One of the factors that makes it hard to predict how much oxygen is left is that we do not know the rate of the consumption of oxygen per occupant on the sub,” Rear Admiral John Mauger shared with BBC.
With the window of oxygen closed, the mission has now transitioned to a wreckage salvage.
David Pogue, a correspondent for CBS, reports that the Titan submersible operates within a “culture of safety.” However, during his time on board the vessel last year, he noticed a few questionable aspects. Pogue had previously expressed concerns about the use of a PlayStation video game controller for navigation, but there were other issues as well.
“They use rusty construction pipes as ballast,” Pogue, 60, shared with PEOPLE. “I remember that you are sealed into the sub from the outside. There are 18 bolts around the hatch, and the crew bolts you in from the outside. And I remember it was odd that they put in only 17 of the 18 bolts. The 18th one is way up high, and they don’t bother with that one. They say it makes no difference. But little things like that.”
Taking on the Titan was a daunting task for the journalist. However, he was pleasantly surprised by the interior of the vessel. Despite being about the size of a minivan, it was impressively designed. He noticed that there were a number of safety standards in place which put his mind at ease.
“This submersible is very different from all the ones I had researched and looked at pictures of,” he shared. “Those tend to be very cramped, very homely, and filled with cockpit controls. I mean, they look like a space shuttle cockpit. This sub is modern looking. It has very cool lighting.”
“And then there’s a touchscreen computer that the pilot uses for functions like the lights and the air and the measurements of depth and so on, and communicating with the surface. So it felt like you’re getting into a minivan without chairs. The sub is made from a carbon fiber cylinder, so the walls are curved. So you sit there on the floor with your back against the curved wall. It holds five people comfortably as long as they alternate back, feet, back, feet, you know what I mean?” he continued.
Pogue added: “But as you dive, it gets colder and colder and colder. And so they instruct you to wear layers and bring winter jackets and the ski socks because you don’t wear shoes onto the sub. It’s also probably worth mentioning that there is no real toilet on board. There is a pee bottle and a set of Ziploc bags. That’s basically it. And if you have to go, you go to one end of the sub and you draw a privacy curtain, and Stockton [Rush, CEO and founder of OceanGate] turns up the music loud and you go.”
Personal Accounts
“So anyway, and that’s relevant because on the day of, you have a sandwich and a bottle of water, and that’s it. Because they don’t expect this dive to take more than 10 or 12 hours. So think about the people who’ve been down there since Sunday. It is freezing cold. They apparently have no power because remember, we lost communication with them. So they have no light. So it’s blacker than black. It is the darkest you can possibly imagine at the bottom of the sea. And they have no food or water,” he said.
He recounted the details of the expedition and his emotion leading up to the trip. “I was petrified in the days leading up to this. I didn’t sleep at all the night before the dive. My rational brain was satisfied that this was safe because I had had an elaborate tour of the sub and all the safety precautions and all the backup equipment. But emotionally, you can’t control your emotions. And I knew that I was getting on a prototype, experimental vehicle. It had, at that point, made over 20 successful journeys to the Titanic without any injuries of any kind. So my intellectual brain thought, well, ultimately it must be safe. But emotionally, it was another story.”
Pogue revealed that he had to sign a waiver before he boarded the vessel. He said the documentation was “quite clear about all the ways that you could be permanently disabled, emotionally traumatized or killed.”
“So everybody doing this goes in with their eyes-wide-open that this is an experimental vessel,” Pogue continued. “The waiver says ‘This vessel has not been inspected or certified by any government body.’ So you know very well that it is a one of a kind vessel.”
