2023-06-22 13:13:10
Getty Images Search and rescue teams are still trying to locate the missing submarine Titan
It’s both incredibly distressing and terrifying to be trapped inside a 22-foot (6.7-meter) submarine, thousands of feet underwater, and in danger of running out of oxygen.
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Search and rescue teams are still seeking to locate the submarine “Titan”, which went missing during a diving trip to see the site of the wreck of the Titanic, while the circumstances surrounding their crew of five are shrouded in mystery.
There is a belief that the remaining time for the submarine and its crew is less than 10 hours until the amount of oxygen remaining is depleted, which prompts search and rescue operations to race against time in order to find the submarine before it is too late.
Ken Leeds, a hyperbaric medicine expert at Memorial University in St John’s, Newfoundland, in eastern Canada, tells BBC News that running out of air isn’t the only danger facing crew on board.
He adds that the submarine may have lost electrical power, which is likely to have a role in the process of controlling the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide inside.
As the oxygen level decreases, the amount of carbon dioxide that the submarine crew inhales increases, with potentially catastrophic consequences.
“When carbon dioxide levels build up, it becomes a calming agent, like an anesthetic, which puts a person to sleep,” says Leeds.
Too much gas in a person’s bloodstream, known as hypercapnia, can lead to death if left untreated.
Ryan Ramsey, a former Royal Navy submarine commander, says he has seen online videos of the Titan’s interior, and was unable to see the carbon dioxide removal system, known as the scrubber.
“For me, these are the biggest challenges,” he adds.
Meanwhile, the crew is at risk of hypothermia, in which the body becomes very cold.
Ramsey says, if the submarine is at the bottom of the sea, the water temperature will be about 0 degrees Celsius, and if the electricity is also lost, then no energy is generated, and therefore no heat is generated.
Hypothermia, lack of oxygen and accumulation of carbon dioxide inside the submarine means that the submarine crew is less able to communicate with search and rescue teams, such as banging on the hull at regular intervals to try to attract attention.
“If they’re unconscious, they can’t do much to help themselves,” says Leeds.
While the Coast Guard warns there may be little oxygen left, there is still a chance the crew will be able to maintain supplies, at least for a while.
Ramsey says breathing slowly would also help, but he admits this can be difficult given the pressure the crew are under.
Ladies say they can also deploy carbon dioxide absorbent granules or reduce their energy use, if electricity is still available.
BBC
In terms of food and water, Coast Guard officials said the crew had some “limited rations” on board, but did not specify how much.
Despite all these challenges, Leeds urged that search and rescue operations not be halted too early, and said that submarine crew members may be able to survive even when oxygen levels are extremely low.
“If anyone can survive in it[the submarine]it just depends on them (the crew) having electricity, it depends on them having lighting that helps them spot things and make these controls, and sure, they can survive,” says Leeds. .
Search results so far
The US Coast Guard had announced that it had detected more noise while searching for the missing “Titan” submarine, but they do not know the source and nature of this noise, while the US Navy is helping to analyze this data.
This discovery prompted the research team to expand the scope of the search and shift its focus to the area where the noise was detected, but it is still not clear what the noise is, and underwater searches in the area where the noise was monitored have not yielded anything yet. .
Getty Images Aerial photo of the arrival of the research vessel “Deep Energy” to participate in search and rescue operations
More boats and underwater vehicles are set to join the search today, with the two ROVs already working remotely under water.
With the arrival of more boats and underwater search vehicles, Capt. Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard said, “The search will resume at the place where the search was originally conducted.”
The total surveyed area of the ocean floor was about 26,000 square kilometres.
The missing 22-foot submarine is carrying five people: British businessman Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Daoud, his son Suleiman, French explorer and former diver in the French Navy, Paul-Henri Nargolet, and CEO of Ocean Gate, the owner of the submarine. Stockton Rush.
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