The first British man to dive to the Titanic has warned time is running out for five onboard a submersible that has gone missing during a dive to the wreck.
British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding and renowned French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet are feared to be onboard the missing Titanic tourist submarine somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.
Dik Barton, who is University of Sunderland lecturer and has made 22 dives to the wreck while working with RMS Titanic, Inc, said the environment is hostile with "no means of escape".
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Dik said: “This is incredibly sad news, and in light of recent events, sadly the Titanic exploration community always anticipated that this would be the case.
“The vessel is not designed to survive those depths for this duration, time sadly is running out. This is a hostile environment with no means of escape.”
Dik managed 'The Titanic Artefact Collection' of more than 6,500 recovered artefacts, and has worked as an underwater cameraman and the footage has been used in numerous documentaries.
He was also a consultant on the making of the 1997 blockbuster Titanic with James Cameron which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
Officials are facing a race against time to find the submersible after it went missing on Sunday. The 21-foot vessel has four days of emergency capability, according to the leader of the search and rescue.
US and Canadian coastguards have scoured the ocean's surface about 900 miles east of Cap Cod with sonar to listens to sounds below the water, which is up to 13,000 feet deep in the area.
There could be as little as 57 hours of emergency oxygen left aboard the submersible which has lost communication tour operators.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said his thoughts are with the families of those involved.
His spokesman said: "The families involved will be deeply concerned and his thoughts are with them and the Foreign Office is providing support.”
He said that the Prime Minister “clearly wants to pass on his thanks to those that are responding” to the situation.
