Five people inside a missing tourist submersible bound for the Titanic shipwreck have just 40 hours of breathable air left, according to authorities.
An urgent search led by the US Coastguard is currently underway for the vessel, which was reported overdue on Sunday evening about 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland.
Yesterday, vessel owners OceanGate Expeditions said they were 'exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely'. But this evening, Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coastguard said the fiver-person crew only had limited breathable air remaining.
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British adventurer Hamish Harding has been named as one of five people understood to be on board the missible submersible, named Titan. Last week, Mr Harding tweeted he was “proud to finally announce” that he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic.
His family have said they have “great faith and trust” in rescue teams, as the US Coast Guard expands its search for the submersible tourist vessel he is on into deeper waters.
Rescuers are in a race against time to find Mr Harding and four other passengers on board the 6.7 metres (22ft) long OceanGate Expeditions vessel.
They are UK-based businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, reportedly together with French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet and chief executive and founder of OceanGate Expeditions Stockton Rush.
The statement from private plane firm Action Aviation, of which Mr Harding is chairman, said: “Both the Harding family and the team at Action Aviation are very grateful for all the kind messages of concern and support from our friends and colleagues.
“We are thankful for the continued efforts of the authorities and companies that have stepped in to aid in the rescue efforts. We put great faith and trust in their expertise.”
Sky News reported that Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told CNN: “As we continue on with this search … we’ve been working through the night with a broad group of partners to bring all capabilities to bear looking on both the surface and now expanding to a subsurface in the area.”
The US Coast Guard, leading search efforts, tweeted that the total search area completed so far is 10,000 square miles.
It added that a Canadian Aircraft P3 Aurora has arrived on the scene to conduct sonar searches while research vessels Polar Prince and Deep Energy continue their surface searches.
The search and rescue operation involves military aircraft 900 miles east of Cape Cod.
