Parks Stephens, the explorer who worked with Titanic director James Cameron, warned the submersible is currently missing and the sinking site could be “a major tragedy”.
“No matter what you read in the hours to come, all that is really known at this time is that communications with the submersible have been lost and that is unusual enough to warrant serious consideration,” said the Titanic expert. written in a Facebook post Monday.
“I am very concerned about the souls on board,” said Stephenson, who made the trip to the legendary wreck himself.
Stephenson traveled with Academy Award-winning director James Cameron to the sinking of 1912 while working as technical adviser to the film which ultimately grossed over $2 billion at the box office.
Stephenson reportedly went to the bottom of the ocean on several other occasionsincluding as recently as 2019.
Parks Stephens has warned the currently missing submersible could be ‘a major tragedy’
Stephenson traveled with Oscar-winning director James Cameron to the sinking of 1912 while working as a technical advisor for the film Titanic
In another post on Monday, the explorer clarified that he would not be conducting interviews on this subject, writing “I decline all interview requests.” This is an evolving situation and I want to be respectful to anyone who may be affected by what could be a major tragedy.
The shipwreck analyst hoped readers would “keep the well-being of all potentially affected people in their thoughts”.
A massive search operation remains underway to find the missing OceanGate submersible, the Titan, after it lost contact with the mothership during its descent to the sinking on Sunday morning.
Rear Admiral John Mauger, who is helping coordinate the search, said he could be blocked.
“We don’t have any equipment on site that can do a bottom survey,” Mauger said Tuesday.
“There is a lot of debris, so locating it will be difficult. Right now we are focusing on localization.
Royal Navy Rear Admiral Chris Parry compared the bottom of the Atlantic to ‘being in space’, saying: ‘It’s pitch black out there, and you also have a lot of mud and dust. other things that are swept away. You can only see about 20 feet in front of you with spotlights. There are very strong ocean currents pushing you.
If the mini-sub has lost power, with no working propellers, lights or heater, its five passengers will be in total darkness in temperatures of around 3C (37F) as the doomed craft rolls along along the seabed.
The missing OceanGate submersible, the Titan, lost contact with the mothership during its descent to the wreckage on Sunday morning
The Deepsea Challenger submersible was a joint science project of James Cameron, the National Geographic Society and Rolex to conduct deep sea research.
Stephenson and Cameron have written a book about their exploration of the wreckage of the Titanic
French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet is among those aboard the missing submarine
Coast Guard coordinates massive search for missing OceanGate submarine
Oceanographer and Titanic expert David Gallo said: “Where is it? Is it at the bottom, is it floating, is it between the waters? It’s something that has yet to be determined. .
“The water is very deep – over two miles. It’s like a visit to another planet. It is a sunless, cold and high-pressure environment.
The basic problem is that the submersible, Titan, has stopped transmitting signals, making it almost impossible to locate. It’s supposed to send a sonar (radar and GPS not working underwater) ‘ping’ to the Polar Prince mothership every 15 minutes, but the last one was at 9.45am on Sunday – an hour and 45 minutes after the start of the dive as it floated right above the Titanic.
For some reason, OceanGate Expeditions, the company that organizes Titanic tours, took eight hours to call the Coast Guard on Sunday. It was reported to the US Coast Guard at 5:40 p.m., and the Canadian Coast Guard was alerted even later at 9:13 p.m.
Expedition participants include billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai, and Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK board member of the Prince’s Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19 years.
The submarine’s oxygen supply was estimated at 96 hours, giving rescue teams until Thursday morning to find the vessel.
