The Titanic submarine: everything we know so far

You have probably seen by now that a private tour group who was set to explore the Titanic is lost at sea in a minisubmarine. The OceanGate vessel, the Titan, has five souls on board including the CEO of OceanGate who was serving as crew. If the vessel is still intact, it has limited oxygen. There is a major multi-jurisdictional effort to rescue the group before time runs out.

Here is everything we know about the lost vessel, what might have gone wrong, and the ongoing search: 

The Titan 

1. There is no way to control the vessel outside of a bare bones wireless system 

@caseycross0

This is the sub that 5 people are lost in the ocean somewhere in on their way to view titanic. #titanic #titan #lostsubmarine #250k #ocean #deepsea #searchforlostsubmarine #submarine

♬ original sound – Casey Cross

This TikTok shows how the system is operated and how truly barebones the vessel really is.

2. The Titan has made successful deep dives before 

Oisin Fanning, who made the deep-sea dive on the Titan in 2022, said that two of the men on board the missing submersible would know to conserve oxygen from the moment something went wrong and that it would take several days for a rescue vessel to arrive. https://t.co/gALPdZXvZO

— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 21, 2023

But it also had other problems in previous voyages. 

3. It’s about the size of a minivan 

How big is the Titan submersible and who is on board? ➡️ https://t.co/RhR1Kzy67i pic.twitter.com/tO7SWSbbSs

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) June 21, 2023

The quarters within the vessel are extremely tight which is why oxygen is so limited. The only oxygen they have is what it’s fueled with. 

4. World renowned explorer and host of Expedition unknown, Josh Gates, had a chance to ride in the Titan but had concerns

To those asking, #Titan did not perform well on my dive. Ultimately, I walked away from a huge opportunity to film Titanic due to my safety concerns w/ the @OceanGate platform. There's more to the history and design of Titan that has not been made public – much of it concerning.

— Josh Gates (@joshuagates) June 21, 2023

Gates is known for going on all kinds of adventures that seem pretty dicey. He says he once dove in the Titan and after doing so and learning about its functionality made the choice not to pursue footage of the Titanic. 

What might have gone wrong 

1. The depths of the exploration are extreme

🚨 TITANIC SUB UPDATE: The Titan submersible lost near the Titanic has only 20 HOURS of oxygen left.

This means the sub MUST be found within 12 hours from now, or the team of five will most likely suffocate during the 8 hour journey back to the surface.

Last-ditch search &… pic.twitter.com/kCxseFEiMz

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) June 21, 2023

One of the reasons the Titanic is such a difficult target is that it’s so deep. Not many vessels can safely approach a depth below effective sonar technology.

2. The Titan had no tether to the mothership 

#RMSTitanic #OceanGate The Titon submersible's mothership, Polar Prince's track around the Titanic Wreck site (Red Pin) for the last 24 hours. There is a scale in the lower Right of the image. pic.twitter.com/FKdpIXN1Pt

— Kevin Rupp (@LabratSR) June 19, 2023

Though the Titan is a submersible which traditionally means it is tethered to a ship at the surface, the Titan was is not tethered which means it can’t just be pulled in

3. A lot could have gone wrong at the Titanic itself 

"it is possible that the Titan might have gotten stuck in the 111-year-old wreckage of the Titanic lying 12,500 feet deep in the ocean"https://t.co/At6w7gf8Na

— Jacob Silverman 🤌🪨 (@SilvermanJacob) June 21, 2023

Some are theorizing that the vessel might have gotten stuck inside the Titanic wreckage. It’s possible that the Titan is blocked by wreckage infrastructure and not able to continue rising to the surface.

The Search 

1. Another deep sea sub is on the way to help rescue 

A glimmer of hope remains for rescuing the missing submersible, with the only underwater vehicle in the world capable of rescuing the Titan sub now en route to the area.

A remote operated vehicle named Victor 6000 that can reach depths of 20,000 ft is en route but won’t arrive… pic.twitter.com/2PbOaUs0H0

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) June 21, 2023

One of the problems with rescuing the Titan is how deep it may have gone. The Victor has saved other vessels at deeper depths than the 12,500 feet of the Titanic wreckage. 

2. There have been banging sounds picked up by sonar 

The U.S. Coast Guard said banging noises were heard in the search area for the missing Titanic submersible.

This is the audio.
pic.twitter.com/hxrULFu3Iy

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) June 21, 2023

This audio recording is not verified but the Coast Guard has confirmed they have picked up on banging of some kind. There are a lot of metal parts on the sunken Titanic so it’s not certain that the banging is from the lost vessel. 

3. The search area is massive 

#RMSTitanic #OceanGate The Titon submersible's mothership, Polar Prince's track around the Titanic Wreck site (Red Pin) for the last 24 hours. There is a scale in the lower Right of the image. pic.twitter.com/FKdpIXN1Pt

— Kevin Rupp (@LabratSR) June 19, 2023

The search radius is about twice the size of the state of Connecticut and 2.5 miles deep.