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The missing Titan with five people aboard has mere hours left before oxygen is depleted in a race against time in a multinational search and rescue in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Rescuers are on their fifth day searching for the crew, hoping to find them alive since oxygen levels may be down by Thursday morning, depending on if the 21-foot vessel still has power and if the missing crew’s mental state is calm.

A Canadian search team using sonar buoys, reported hearing undersea noises on Tuesday and Wednesday but still could not locate the vessel. Experts still could not confirm the cause of the sound, but hoping it was the crew from the submersible.

Even if the Titan was located, retrieving it would be a huge logistical challenge.

The submersible left Sunday to visit the Titanic wreckage, but experts still do not know if it reached the site or if it’s still on the surface of the ocean. A rescue on the ocean floor would have to contend with the intense pressures and total darkness at that depth.  It may also be difficult to find the vessel aming the Titanic wreckage. If the submersible had managed to return to the surface, spotting it would be difficult in the open sea and it is bolted shut from the outside, so those inside cannot exit without help.

The latest development

• The French research ship L’Atalante which carries a robot is one of the vessels sent to help search efforts. The ROV has a capacity to descend to 6,000 metres and it is connected to its parent ship with a cable eight kilometres (4.9 miles) long.
• The United States Coast Guard expect to increase its surface vessel to 10 from the 5 it initally had, searching for Titan.
• The Titan is believed to be about 1,450km (900 miles) east and 640km south of Newfoundland.

The big picture

• The Titan is the size of a minivan and is operated by U.S.-based OceanGate Expeditions.
• It began its descent at 8 am on Sunday but lost contact with its support ship near the end of what should have been a two-hour dive to the century-old shipwreck.
• Pakistani and British nationals Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, British adventurer Hamish Harding, OceanGate’s chief executive and founder Stockton Rush and French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, are on the Titan.

The sister of a missing American free diver who went missing in Bimini waters said she will not give up finding her brother, even though the Royal Bahamas Defense Force and the US Coast Guard called off the search.

In hopes that he is still alive, in a message to him she said, “Ryan, we will never stop looking for you.”

Nicole Proulx said Ryan went missing on Friday around 6 pm, while free diving in Bahamian waters near the Bimini Barge Wreck, approximately 1.5 miles west of Bimini Inlet, wearing a green UV hooded shirt, heather green athletic shorts, red dive fins, redfin keepers and green snorkels.

He was never found, but a blue pole, red fins, and green shorts were discovered in the surrounding waters on Sunday.

After the US Coast Guard and Royal Bahamas Defence Force suspended the search on Sunday, friends launched a GoFundMe, seeking $60,000 to find the 31-year-old former police officer. As of Monday, more than $30,000 was raised.

“Any money raised will go towards helping fly the volunteer dive team in this effort to bring Ryan home in an honorable manner that he deserves… If Ryan is found prior to this rescue trip, the money will go directly to his family. Any money left after the team goes over will go to the family also,” friend Shelby Morin said.

She described Ryan as a “friend and just an amazing guy.”

Ryan who is from Connecticut, left Palm Beach County Marina, Florida for Bimini last Thursday with a crew including his wife, after free diving around a sunken boat, when he disappeared.

The U.S. Coast Guard deployed two helicopters and a search plane to assist the Royal Bahamas Defense Force in the search but came up empty. After aircraft crews searched over 673 square miles for Ryan, the Coast Guard suspended the search.

“We offer our deepest condolences to the Proulx family,” Lt. Cmdr. Matt Spado, Coast Guard liaison officer, said in a tweet. “The decision to suspend the active search efforts pending further development is one we never take likely.”

Steve Diffenbacher, a friend said Ryan was a U.S.C.G. licensed boat captain and diver and often ran boats from the Northeast down to South Florida for clients who wanted to transport their boats.

Only the strong survived the boat tragedy on Sunday when 17 Haitians including a child died when a human smuggling vessel capsized in Bahamian waters on their way to Florida.

The dead included 15 women, one man, and a child. The other 25 passengers were rescued from the 30-foot speedboat which overturned in choppy waters in Nassau.

It was reported that 60 people may have been on board the boat and authorities may be searching for up to eighteen missing people, unaccounted for.

In a picture issued by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, only men were seen sitting atop the capsized vessel, awaiting rescue by divers.

A woman was pulled from the hull of the boat and was reported to have survived due to an air pocket.

Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander said divers heard a knocking from the hull of the boat and found one woman.

“I think that’s what kept her alive.”

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he sympathized with the parents of the victims.

“This new drama saddens the whole nation,” he said. “While sympathizing with the parents of the victims, I launch, once again, an appeal for national reconciliation in order to solve the problems that are driving away, far from our soil, our brothers, our sisters, our children.”

The passengers who survived the ordeal said they paid smugglers $3000 to $8000 to catch the boat ride to Florida. Authorities have since arrested two Bahamian traffickers who are known for other criminal acts.

A South Florida boater was found alive after being reported missing for several days. However, officials suspect human smuggling activity.

Fifty-four-year-old Juan Gonzalez was on his way from Bimini, Bahamas in a 22-foot vessel with a stepson who is not a US citizen, and was expected to arrive at Homestead Bayfront Park in Miami on Sunday.

When he did not show up, a missing person’s report was filed.

Someone spotted a disabled boat about 10 miles off Jupiter Inlet. He was rescued after reporting that he had run out of fuel.

Lt Karolina Vega said, “Human smuggling ventures, whether paid for or made by a friend or family member are subject to criminal and civil penalties.”

Mariners should file a float plan, tell someone where they are going and when they are returning, and be in possession of a VHF radio.

Gonzalez is being investigated further.

The US Coast Guard suspended its search for 20 people on board a 29-foot vessel that left Bimini for Florida, but never made it.

Officials say the blue and white 29-foot Mako Cuddy Cabin vessel reportedly left Bimini, Bahamas on Monday with 20 passengers and was expected to arrive in Lake Worth, Florida.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the missing people. I encourage anyone with information about the people aboard to contact us as soon as possible,” said Captain Stephen Burdian, Seventh District Chief of Response.”

Coast guard authorities said they along with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and the Bahamas Air Sea and Rescue Association searched nearly 17,000 square miles of sea, for about three days, with no trace of the vessel.

A family member of someone on board the vessel alerted authorities in the Bahamas after a relative on board the vessel did not call alerting that they had arrived in Florida, according to Petty Officer Third Class Jose Hernandez. 

What is not known

• why the boat was going to Florida
• which part of Lake Worth Beach it was headed to
• the names and nationalities of those on board

The Royal Bahamas Defence Force rescued two nationals of Turks and Caicos, stranded at sea.

The fishermen were spotted off Great Inagua in a 27 ft fishing vessel, drifting approximately 7 miles west of the island.

A US Police patrol vessel and Defence Force Marines boarded the vessel to investigate.

The men said they were stranded at sea for 8 days after experiencing engine problems.

They are reported to be in fair health and were escorted to Matthew Town, to a medical facility to receive medical attention before being handed over to Immigration officials for further processing.

Featured image: RBDF