Media Focus on Missing Titanic Sub Over Deadly Migrant Shipwreck Sparks Outrage

June 22, 2023

Titanic wreckage in the North Atlantic — A spare anchor sits in its well on the forepeak of the shipwrecked Titanic – Getty

*The missing Titanic submersible ran out of air this morning, according to a U.S. Coast Guard prediction.

The Titan vessel had about 96 hours of oxygen onboard when its descent began on Sunday (June 18), according to CBS. The sub is carrying five passengers, at least two are billionaires and one was traveling with his son. Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick said contact with Titan was lost during its dive to the Titanic wreckage in the North Atlantic.

The search for passengers began after the coast guard “lost all communication” with the vessel “approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes,” into the expedition Frederick said, People reports.

“One of the factors that makes it hard to predict how much oxygen is left is that we do not know the rate of the consumption of oxygen per occupant on the sub,” Rear Admiral John Mauger told BBC News.

The rescue attempt has overshadowed another disaster at sea that may have left hundreds of people dead. As NBC News reports, a fishing boat with migrants traveling from Libya to Italy sank in the Mediterranean a week ago. Hundreds of people (about 750) may have been on board and a little over 100 survived the shipwreck, according to ABC News. Hundreds of migrants remain missing as only 82 bodies have been recovered so far.

Meanwhile, media attention is focused on the Titan rescue effort, frustrating many human rights advocates.

“It’s a horrifying and disgusting contrast,” said Judith Sunderland, associate director for Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division, NBC News reports.

“The willingness to allow certain people to die while every effort is made to save others … it’s a, you know, really dark reflection on humanity,” Sunderland continued.

There has been more mainstream news and social media attention put on the search for the missing sub than on the migrant shipwreck … “yet, it’s 100 times as many people who are feared to have lost their lives and these people, they were forced to flee their homes, they were looking for safety,” said Josie Naughton, co-founder and CEO of Choose Love, a U.K.-based nongovernmental organization supporting refugees around the world, per NBC News.

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