• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
What missing sub crew will experience when oxygen begins running out

Home> News

Updated 13:11 22 Jun 2023 GMT+1Published 11:46 22 Jun 2023 GMT+1

What missing sub crew will experience when oxygen begins running out

The OceanGate sub had been completing an exploratory dive of the Titanic before it vanished on Sunday

Katherine Sidnell

Katherine Sidnell

As the search for the missing Titan submersible intensifies, an expert has revealed what might be happening to those onboard as their air supply dwindles.

The OceanGate sub initially set out on Sunday (18 June) with 96 hours of oxygen, as completed an exploratory dive around the Titanic shipwreck.

With oxygen set to run out in a few hours, a doctor has spoken about the terrifying condition that could be affecting crew members.

The search for the missing sub is still ongoing – with the US Coast Guard giving a press conference about the rescue effort yesterday (June 21).

Advert

Despite knowing the last location of the OceanGate sub, search teams are still having to investigate a remote area in the Atlantic – which is roughly twice the size of Connecticut.

With little to help them locate the missing men, the search has continued for several days – with the sub’s air supply continuing to dwindle.

It’s likely that those onboard have already begun to feel the effects of oxygen deprivation, which is also known as hypercapnia.

A potentially fatal condition, the body begins to shut down as increasing amounts of carbon dioxide enters the patient’s bloodstream – causing intense drowsiness.

FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES ON THIS STORY HERE

Advert

In an interview with the BBC, a hyperbaric medicine expert at Memorial University in St John's explained that those onboard may already be experiencing the terrifying condition.

If left untreated, those affected will become drowsy as the final hours of air supply pass by.

"As levels of carbon dioxide build up, then it becomes sedative, it becomes like an anaesthetic gas, and you will go to sleep," explained Dr Ken LeDez.

He added that it would be a slow process, explaining: "It's not like switching off a light, it's like climbing a mountain - as the temperature gets colder and metabolism falls [it depends] how fast you ascend that mountain."

The members of the crew may survive longer than others he added, saying 'it depends on how cold they get and how effective they are at conserving oxygen'.

Advert

The submarine has been missing since Sunday.
OceanGate

Tragically, the Titan’s air supply is expected to run out at roughly 11am (UK time), with teams desperate to find the missing men.

On Tuesday (June 20), a Canadian plane stated that it heard a ‘banging’ sound – which investigators are now trying to pinpoint.

In yesterday’s press conference (21 June), US Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick said that he ‘doesn’t know’ what the sound was.

"We don't know what [the noises] are, to be frank with you," he told the press, adding: "We're searching in the area where the noises were detected."

Advert

However, he insisted that teams need to remain hopeful with other teams being involved in the extensive search in the Atlantic Ocean.

Despite this, the five men and the submarine remain unaccounted for.

The four passengers include British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, as well as OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush.

Experienced French diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet is also onboard and was the only crew member during the vessel’s sudden disappearance.

Featured Image Credit: American Photo Archive/Alamy

Topics: Titanic, World News, US News

Katherine Sidnell
Katherine Sidnell

Katherine is an entertainment journalist with a love of all things nerdy. Starting out writing Doctor Who fan fiction as a kid, she has gone on to interview the likes of Matt Damon, James May and Dua Lipa to name a few. Published in The Sun, The Daily Mail and Evening Standard - she now joins Ladbible as resident nerd in chief.

X

@ksidnell

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

6 mins ago
2 hours ago
  • 6 mins ago

    All health benefits of fasting for 36 hours to achieve 'full reset' following jaw-dropping simulation

    I can't go 36 hours without a biscuit, let alone any food at all

    News
  • 6 mins ago

    'Japanese Baba Vanga' triggers tourist cancellations with catastrophic prediction coming in 46 days

    Ryo Tatsuki's predictions over the years have been eerily accurate and one is set to come in July 2025

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Donald Trump demands 'facts' on Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis in shock statement to White House

    Classy as always, Donald

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Brit, 21, faces decades 'rotting behind bars' in Sri Lanka after 'trying to smuggle £1.2million worth of drugs'

    Charlotte May Lee was found with 46kg of a highly addictive illegal substance in her luggage

    News
  • OceanGate ex-employee reveals 'first red flag' she spotted affecting safety of Titan sub
  • Former OceanGate worker gave warning to Titan sub CEO Stockton Rush before disaster
  • Chilling promise Titan boss made before sub imploded on Titanic voyage killing all five onboard
  • OceanGate director admits Titan sub malfunctioned just before fatal Titanic dive