RIO DE JANEIRO, June 21. /TASS/. Experts see the chances of survival for the crew of the Titan as negligible, with one oceanographer saying the five people onboard the submersible that went missing in mid-Atlantic are doomed.

"If this submarine is having mobility problems, it is lost. Nobody will be able to get down there to catch it and there is no plan B. Not even nuclear submarines descend to that depth," David Zee, an oceanographer at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, was quoted as saying by the Globo, a newspaper in Brazil. "It is more difficult than taking a trip to the Moon."

Luiz Eduardo Cetrim Maciel, commander of a Brazilian Navy submarine base near Rio de Janeiro, said the rescue was an almost impossible mission, with time quickly running out.

The technology for hoisting a submersible of this size does exist, he said, but the time remaining before oxygen onboard the submersible runs out may be too little to lift the vessel to the surface. Given the ocean depth in the area, it could take around two hours to pull it up, he said.

"The degree of complexity is really great," he told the Globo.

On June 19, 2023, OceanGate Expeditions reported that it had lost contact with the submersible that was designed to transport tourists to the site of the Titanic's sinking. According to the Northeast Division of the US Coast Guard, there were five people on board the submersible, and communication with them was lost about 1 hour and 45 minutes after the dive on Sunday. The Titan is capable of providing air to those on board for up to 96 hours.

According to Sky News, the following individuals are on board the Titan: Stockton Rush, president and founder of OceanGate Expeditions; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French diver; Hamish Harding, a British billionaire who owns the company Action Aviation; Shahzada Dawood, a 48-year-old Pakistani businessman who resides in the UK; and Sulaiman Dawood, his 19-year-old son who also resides in the UK.