<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">A massive search and rescue effort for a missing submersible near the wreck of the Titanic entered a critical stage late Wednesday, with just one night left before the oxygen supply for the five people on board runs out.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">While coast guard officials insisted they remained "hopeful," with a surge of&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">assets and experts joining the operation and sonar picking up unidentified&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">underwater noises, the challenge of locating and recovering the crew alive&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">appeared increasingly formidable.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Sometimes you're in a position where you have to make a tough decision.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">We're not there yet," said US Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick, adding&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">that it remained a search-and-rescue mission "100 percent."</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Organizers of the multinational response -- which includes US and Canadian&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">military planes, coast guard ships, and teleguided robots -- are focusing&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">their efforts in the North Atlantic close to multiple "underwater noises"&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">detected by sonar late Tuesday and Wednesday.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The sounds raised hopes that the passengers on the small tourist craft are&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">still alive though experts have not been able to confirm their source.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"We don't know what they are, to be frank with you," said Frederick, who&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">added: "We have to remain optimistic and hopeful."</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Titan began its descent at 8:00 am on Sunday and had been due to resurface&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">seven hours later, according to the US Coast Guard.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rescuers, who have received help from around the world, estimate that</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">passengers may run out of oxygen on Thursday morning, based on the sub's&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">capacity to hold up to 96 hours of emergency air.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The 21-foot (6.5-meter) tourist craft lost communication with its mothership&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">less than two hours into its trip to see the remains of the Titanic, which&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">sits more than two miles (nearly four kilometers) below the surface of the&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">North Atlantic.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The submersible, named Titan, was carrying British billionaire Hamish Harding&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">and Pakistani tycoon Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, who also have&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">British citizenship.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">OceanGate Expeditions charges $250,000 for a seat on the sub.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- 'Mr Titanic' -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Also on board is the company's CEO, Stockton Rush, and a French submarine&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">operator Paul-Henri Nargeolet, nicknamed "Mr Titanic" for his frequent dives&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">at the site.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Ships and planes have scoured 10,000 square miles (around 20,000 square&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">kilometers) of surface water -- roughly the size of Massachusetts -- for the&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">vessel, which was attempting to dive about 400 miles off the coast of&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Newfoundland, Canada.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">After the noises were detected by a Canadian P-3 aircraft, rescuers relocated&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">two remotely operated vehicles (ROV) that search under the water and one&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">surface vessel with sonar capability.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The ROV searches have not yielded results but data from the Canadian aircraft&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">has been shared with US Navy experts for acoustics analysis.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"There have been multiple reports of noises and every one of those noises is&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">being analyzed," said Carl Hartsfield, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Institution.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He added that the sounds "have been described as banging noises."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Frederick said the number of surface vessels in the search would double from&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">five to 10 within 24 to 48 hours.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The Navy has sent a specialized winch system for lifting heavy objects from&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">extreme depths, other equipment and personnel; and the Pentagon has deployed&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">three C-130 aircraft and three C-17s.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">A deep-sea underwater robot sent by France's oceanographic institute was due&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">to arrive early Wednesday afternoon.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Fears of a leak -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Titan's mission was expected to be the only manned trip to the Titanic this&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">year due to bad weather, Harding wrote in on Instagram beforehand.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in 1912 during its maiden voyage from&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">England to New York with 2,224 passengers and crew on board. More than 1,500 people died.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">It was found in 1985 and remains a lure for nautical experts and underwater&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">tourists.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The pressure at that depth as measured in atmospheres is 400 times what it is&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">at sea level.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Mike Reiss, an American television writer who visited the Titanic wreck on&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">the same sub last year, told the BBC the experience was disorientating.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Alistair Greig, professor of marine engineering at University College London,&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">has suggested two possible scenarios based on images of the Titan.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said if it had an electrical or communications problem, it could have</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">surfaced and remained floating, "waiting to be found" -- bearing in mind the&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">vessel can reportedly be unlocked from the outside only.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Another scenario is the pressure hull was compromised -- a leak," he said in&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">a statement.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Then the prognosis is not good."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In 2018, OceanGate Expeditions' former director of marine operations David&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Lochridge alleged in a lawsuit that he had been fired after raising concerns&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">about the company's "experimental and untested design" of the craft.&nbsp; AFP</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>