Debris found in Titan submarine search area

The US Coast Guard has discovered debris in the search area for the missing Titan submarine, where oxygen may have run out.

"A self-propelled underwater vehicle (ROV) has detected a cluster of debris on the seabed in the search area near the wreckage of the Titanic. Experts at the search command center are evaluating information from this debris," the US Coast Guard said at noon on June 22 (evening on June 22, Hanoi time).

The Titan submersible went missing on June 18 while carrying five people on a tour of the Titanic wreck at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, at a depth of nearly 4,000 meters, about 600 kilometers from Newfoundland, Canada. The US Coast Guard estimated that the Titan had enough oxygen for the five people for 96 hours since it went missing.

With this estimate, the five people on the Titan submersible ran out of oxygen at around 7:10 a.m. on June 22 (around 6:10 p.m. Hanoi time). Oxygen could run out sooner if the passengers panicked and breathed heavily, but it would take longer if they knew how to conserve oxygen in a confined space, according to experts.

Canadian aircraft join the search for the missing submarine Titan on June 21. Photo: Canadian Armed Forces — Canadian patrol aircraft join the search for the missing submarine Titan on June 21. Photo: *Canadian Armed Forces*

Guillermo Sohnlein, co-founder of OceanGate with Stockton Rush, one of the five men on the missing submersible, said he was confident the crew had enough experience to hold out until rescue. He called today "a critical day in the search and rescue mission."

"I continue to hold out hope for my friend and the rest of the crew," Sohnlein said. "I encourage everyone to continue to hope for their safe return."

The search area has been expanded to twice the size of Connecticut, the US state with a territory of more than 13,000 square kilometers. Victor 6000, a deep-sea diving robot equipped with the French research vessel Atalante, has approached the Titanic wreck to join the search for the Titan submersible. The robot is capable of diving to a depth of 6,000 meters.

A Canadian P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft had previously recorded loud noises near the location of the missing Titan submersible every 30 minutes. Four hours later, they dropped more sonobuoys and still heard the sound.

It is not yet clear where the noise originated, but French expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet said it could be "human noise", if it was indeed coming from the submersible.