Critical equipment arrives in ‘last chance’ effort to save Titanic sub passengers

Search crews desperately racing against time to save the passengers on the missing Titanic-bound sub had three US Air Force planes deliver critical equipment and tools to Canada late Tuesday — in what was described as the “last chance” to rescue them.

The massive C-17 Globemasters, which were believed to have flown from New Jersey and North Carolina, landed late Tuesday at St. John’s Airport in Newfoundland, where they were met by several flatbed trucks, according to the UK’s Metro.

The cargo was frantically placed onto the trucks, which made their way with a police escort to the waiting Horizon Arctic, a Canadian supply ship that set sail soon afterward on the 15-hour, 400-mile voyage to the area where the OceanGate Expeditions’ Titan went missing.

“This is the last kick at it. This is the last chance. There’s no other chance other than this ROV (underwater vehicle),” said a man at the dock who claimed he would be part of the Horizon Arctic crew, the Daily Mail reported.

“I’m hoping for the best. I’m really, really hoping. It will be a tragedy for everyone if this is not found. A tragedy on top of a tragedy,” he added.

Among the equipment loaded onto the ship was a giant roll of thick cable, two large machines with a blue frame and a “high voltage” sign on the side, and two heavy-duty Hyundai winches, according to reports.

Also loaded was a crate marked Pelagic Research Services, a Massachusetts-based company that specializes in deep-sea rescue equipment, Metro reported.

On its website, the PRS said it had been contacted by OceanGate Expeditions “to provide critical support in the current rescue operation of the submersible Titan in the North Atlantic.

“Currently, PRS is in the process of mobilization as quickly and as safely as possible to assist in the search and rescue effort,” it said.

An airport official in Newfoundland told WGRZ that a plane arrived with a 7-foot-long submersible called Odysseus 6K, which a PRS rep said can dive down to 19,000 feet.

Canadian Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick told reporters Tuesday night that there was only about 40 hours of oxygen left aboard the Titan.

When asked if he thought the Horizon Arctic will arrive on time, he said: “I don’t know the answer to that question. What I will tell you is that we will do everything in our power to effect a rescue,” the CBC reported.

“This is a complex search, and it’s complex for a variety of reasons. Logistically speaking, it’s hard to bring assets to bear. It takes time. It takes coordination,” he added.

Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard said late Tuesday that it has established a “unified command” with its Canadian counterpart and OceanGate Expeditions.

“This is a complex search effort which requires multiple agencies with subject matter expertise and specialized equipment, which we have gained through the unified command,” US Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick said in a statement.

Also en route to the site is the Royal Canadian Navy’s HMCS Glace Bay, which is equipped with a six-person hyperbaric recompression chamber – but it’s not expected to arrive until midday Thursday, according to the CBC.

Dr. Ken Ledez, a hyperbaric medicine specialist from Memorial University, told the outlet that if the five people are still alive, they face risks of hypothermia, lack of oxygen and an excess of carbon dioxide.

“[After a while] you won’t have movement or muscle strength,” Ledez said. “Your reasoning will decline and you will lose consciousness the colder you get.”

If the Titan runs out of oxygen, he explained, the people will quickly lose consciousness.

But even if they still have air, they could be at risk if they lost electrical power and have no way to filter out the carbon dioxide from their breath, Ledez said.

The expert noted that they could disassemble the equipment used to filter out CO2 and spread it across the sub’s floor in a last-ditch effort to save their lives.

Missing aboard the sub are pilot Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British billionaire Hamish Harding, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Sulaiman.

Renewed hope has emerged after a Canadian military aircraft detected underwater noises every 30 minutes in the area where the Titan lost contact with its support ship.