As five passengers of a private submarine face potential death after their vessel went missing off the coast of St Johns, New Foundland, Canada, a former Navy psychologist speculated about their mental state.
On Monday morning, the five passengers, who include British billionaire Hamish Harding and Shahzada Dawood, who is a member of one of Pakistan’s richest families, were reported missing after their vessel was reported overdue on Sunday night.
As of Tuesday night, the passengers have only about 36 hours of oxygen left, giving Canadian rescuers three days to search an over 400-mile radius before the group perishes.
The submersible was reportedly taking passengers on a tour of the remains of the Titanic before it went missing, setting off an international media firestorm and catching the attention of millions.
The psychologist, Dr. Justin D’Arienzo, said the group of five is probably switching from ‘ panic to gallows humor, to fear, to feeling really bonded with the other passengers as they remain lost in the ocean, uncertain about their fate.
One retired U.S. Navy Captain put the passenger’s odds of survival at about one percent, forecasting a dismal outcome for those aboard.
While successful rescue efforts of those trapped deep underwater in submersibles and submarines have been rare, they have happened a few times throughout history, making the passengers odds better than 0 percent.
FOX News Reports–
Surface search underway for the OceanGate Titan Submersible. The five people stuck inside the Titanic submarine:
Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 73
Stockton Rush, 61
Hamish Harding, 58
Shahzada Dawood, 48
Sulaiman Dawood, 19 pic.twitter.com/hzwBbQf9jY— ash (@outtaminds) June 20, 2023
“Certainly there is sheer panic where their heart is racing and they’re having trouble breathing … or they feel like they are going to lose their mind,” said licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Justin D’Arienzo. “And certainly in a cramped space that is dark, like this situation, that can be exponentially worse.”
The ongoing search for the missing submersible used to take tourists to see the wreckage of the Titanic has covered an area “larger than the state of Connecticut” but hasn’t found any signs of the vessel, said Capt. Jamie Fredrick, U.S. Coast Guard First District response coordinator, during a Tuesday press conference. The five-person submersible was reported overdue Sunday night 435 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
“Psychologically, what is the killer for people in terms of maintaining calmness is dealing with uncertainty,” D’Arienzo added.
