Salvage Expert Has Little Hope for Everett Titanic Sub Recovery

The company that pioneers operates and some say built the submersible that's gone missing in the Atlantic continues to hold out hope for recovery. However, a noted salvage expert is not hopeful. This image is of a US Coast Guard briefing about the search for the missing sub. 

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According to MyNorthwest.com, a noted salvage expert, Bob Mester, told KIRO, when asked about chances the five-person Titan sub will be found:

“I have no hope at this point and time."

The sub began its tour last Friday, and descent into the North Atlantic on Sunday, taking the company founder and CEO Stockton Rush and four others along with him.

An hour and 45 minutes into the descent, communication was lost with the craft. It has enough oxygen on board to last the persons on board until Thursday morning.

Mester told KIRO there could have been a medical catastrophe, heart attack or something to the pilot, which in this case was the CEO Rush.  Mester also said there could have been a loss of power, thrusters, or other mechanical issues. But even so, there were multiple ways the people on board could have surfaced, including cutting loose ballast weights. There were also air bladders and other systems designed to raise the craft in case of emergency.

But KIRO says there are no indications those have been used. More than 10,000 square miles of ocean have been searched on the surface looking for the sub, as well as extensive sonar pinging and searching the depths.

Mester, who is a respected salvage expert, has gone even deeper than Titanic, riding in other research submersibles.  He has also been aboard the Titan sub when it was not in the water.

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The worst-case scenario he laid out would be some sort of compromise or issue with the structural integrity of the hull or windows. At those depths, any such collapse would be immediate and crushing.

He also said finding the remains in the Titanic debris field would be extremely difficult.

The Coast Guard is expected to have another briefing sometime Wednesday, June 21st.