The world is hoping for a positive outcome to the recent news that a submarine intended to transport guests to visit the Titanic shipwreck 13000 feet under the surface of the ocean has lost communication. Mike Reiss, an experienced traveler who has taken such submarine trips three times, including a trip to see the Titanic, admitted that he was "not optimistic" about the outcome.
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Speaking on Good Morning Britain, he explained: "I’m not optimistic just because I know the logistics of it and I know how vast the ocean is and how very tiny this craft is." See his discussion here…
He continued: "It’s a beautifully designed craft, I can’t disparage it but it's meant to go down further than any other vessels can go so the idea of - if it’s down at the bottom - I don't know how anyone will be able to access it for bring it back up.
"There is a hope that it's at or near the surface. The phrase we keep hearing it, 'They’ve lost communication' and I have gotta say, I did three separate dives. I did one to the Titanic, two more off the coast of New York and every time they lost communication. This is not to say it’s a shoddy ship, it’s all new technology and they're learning it as they go along you have to remember the early days of the space program or the early days of aviation where you make a lot of mistakes on the way to figuring out what you’re doing."
© Anadolu AgencyThe vessel went missing on Sunday during the descent to the Titanic, which usually takes around two hours. However, communication was lost after one hour and 45 minutes into the voyage, and hasn’t been heard from since.
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OceanGate Expeditions confirmed that they had lost communication with the vessel with Hamish Harding, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood, Sulaiman Dawood and Stockton Rush on board, and that they were "exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely". On Monday afternoon, the US Coast Guard’s Rear Admiral John Mauger stated that it was believed between 70 to 96 hours of air was left for the trapped guests on the $250,000 expedition to the wreck, including a British billionaire, a Pakistani businessman and his 19-year-old son, and a French diver on board.
© Mike CoppolaHe added to 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."
Marine scientist David Mearns, who is friends with Hamish Harding, told Radio 4: "This also happens to be my field, search and recovery, but when it’s involving with people you know personally, the impact of it is bigger. When I found out initially that Hamish was on board that was very upsetting and then when later in the day that [Paul-Henri] was also with him on the sub, which was almost a typical thing to expect, they would have got on fantastically well these two characters, that really started to make the day a lot worse.
© Victoria Sirakova"When something does go wrong and it is missing, that is dire. And we’re all very very worried and concerned for our friends and the other people on board."
