Old footage has emerged showing the claustrophobic conditions inside the submersible that has gone missing the near the wreck of the Titanic.
The deep-sea vessel - which has five people on board - lost communication with tour operators on Sunday while about 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland, during a voyage to the shipwreck off the coast of Canada. Previous clips from inside the submersible have now emerged showing the cramped conditions that passengers face, the Mirror reports.
The vessel has no seats, one tiny bathroom and was likely navigated using a 'video game controller'. All passengers have to sit on the floor, according to a BBC video from 2022 featuring OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush as he gave a tour of the submersible.
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In the video, Rush is shown sitting on the ground while showing the video crew around - not that there was much around. The submersible has a small bathroom, one overhead light, a few wall lights, and a window.
It is navigated using a video game controller that Rush waves in the air during the tour. Usually, those are tolerable conditions, as the entire round trip on the submersible lasts eight hours, from launching from a boat until it surfaces.
Yesterday, the US Coast Guard estimated that the missing 6.7 metres (22ft) long OceanGate Expeditions vessel had just 40 hours of oxygen left. British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding is on board, as well as Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman and Mr Rush, reportedly together with French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet.
Mike Reiss, who joined OceanGate to glimpse the deteriorating wreck in 2022, said the trip is less tourism than it is true exploration — and the people who dare to try it are made well aware of the risks. You sign a massive waiver that lists one way after another that you could die on the trip," Reiss told the BBC in an interview Tuesday.
"They mention death three times on page one. So it's never far from your mind. As I was getting on to the sub, that was my thought: That this could be the end."
'Banging noises' have reportedly been detected in the huge search for the vessel. US media outlet The Rolling Stone reported an internal US government memo which said the sound was detected by Canadian search aircraft in 30-minute intervals on Wednesday.
The US Coast Guard said: "Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises in the search area. As a result, ROV (remote operating vehicles) operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises.
"Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue. Additionally, the data from the P-3 aircraft has been shared with our U.S. Navy experts for further analysis which will be considered in future search plans."
The Explorers’ Club, of which Mr Harding is a founding member, shared an upbeat message today. President Richard Garriot de Cayeux said in a statement: "There is cause for hope, that based on data from the field, we understand that likely signs of life have been detected at the site.
"They precisely understand the experienced personnel and tech we can help deploy… We believe they are doing everything possible with all the resources they have."
