Titanic diver breaks down in tears as he says missing passengers are ‘buried alive in a tin can’ 

A diving veteran broke down in tears today as he said the five passengers trapped inside the missing Titanic submersible will feel like they are being ‘buried alive in a tin can’.

Search teams estimated the vital oxygen supply on board the Titan would end at 12.08pm, all but extinguishing hopes of a dramatic rescue, but the US Coast Guard has since confirmed they have found debris in the search area. 

Today, Dr Michael Guillen, who became the first TV correspondent to visit the remains of the Titanic when he explored the wreckage on a Russian sub in 2000, spoke of his experience.

He revealed to Holly Willoughby and Dermot O’Leary on ITV’s This Morning how he became stuck underwater for 30 minutes, after his vessel smashed into the ship’s propeller.

‘Every minute that you’re buried alive in this tin can, it stretches out for eternity. You lose any sense of time,’ he said.

Dr Michael Guillen, who became the first TV correspondent to visit the remains of the Titanic when he explored the wreckage on a Russian sub in 2000, spoke of his experience

In an emotional interview, he added: ‘I feel like I’m down there with them. I know what they went through. 

‘I feel it, I’m very empathetic, and I was hoping that they would experience that second chance of life that I did and I almost feel guilty talking to you this morning about how I was given that second chance. 

‘It’s pretty remote that they’re gonna be given a second chance and it’s a terrible way to go. 

‘My only hope and prayer is that they experience that sense of peace that I did when I was ready to let go of my life.’ 

Earlier this week, Dr Guillen shared news footage of the incident, which told how the vessel was suddenly caught in a strong underwater current that pushed it towards the Titanic’s 21-ton propellers. 

After becoming wedged under the stern, the crew tried to reverse out – at which point a bang was heard as chunks of debris were seen floating through the water. 

‘So are we stuck or what?’ a voice can be heard asking in the footage.  

The team eventually managed to free the sub and get it back to the surface, but Dr Guillen said the accident ‘almost claimed my life’. 

Dr Guillen was on a submersible called the Mir 1 which was built in 1987. 

Writing in his 2021 book Believing is Seeing, Dr Guillen said: ‘It seemed to me we were heading toward it [the propeller] too fast – and, worse, accelerating. 

‘Later, I learned that our sub accidentally got caught in a fast-moving, deep-underwater current. A split-second later, Mir 1 slammed into the Titanic’s propeller.

‘I felt the shock of the collision: rusty debris showered down on our submersible, obscuring my view through the porthole.’

Journey to the bottom of the ocean: Dr Michael Guillen was the first TV reporter to visit the Titanic wreck 

Ex-ABC reporter Michael Guillen revealed his own terrifying experience when he became the first TV correspondent to visit the wreck (this is a still from news footage of the incident) 

A current pushed the sub underneath the Titanic’s stern, as which point the crew began fiddling with the controls to try and reverse it out  

At this point a bang was heard as large chunks of debris were seen floating through the water

‘So are we stuck or what?’ a voice can be heard asking in the footage

Dr Guillen said 30 minutes passed and the team were trying to dislodge the vessel by ‘moving it forward and backward, forward and backward’ to ‘rock us out of our stuck position’. 

At this point he started to think they would not make it out.

But he said he then suddenly felt as if an ‘invisible presence’ had entered the sub, and ‘shortly afterward everything went quiet’ before the engine ‘stopped roaring’ and it felt like they were floating again.

The team had managed to free Mir 1 from the propeller but Dr Guillen admitted that even today he did not fully understand how he had survived the incident. 

Dr Guillen, who is a Christian, also wrote how he ‘experienced God’s presence and peace right when I was resigned to kissing my life goodbye’. 

Banging has been heard at 30 minute intervals from the depths of the Atlantic – possibly from the men striking the side of the sub – but it has not yet been located.

Rear Admiral John Mauger, of the US Coast Guard, said the operation ‘remains an active search’ and he ‘remains hopeful’ thanks to ‘favourable’ weather conditions. 

Asked about the banging noises, he said initial analysis suggested they were ‘background ocean noise’ but this was still being examined.

Those stuck onboard the sub include British billionaire Hamish Harding, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French navy veteran PH Nargeolet and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, who is just 19 and a student at Strathclyde University.

A deep water robot sub has reached the Atlantic floor – and another is descending the 12,500ft of ocean fast. 

‘The Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic has deployed an ROV that has reached the sea floor and began its search for the missing sub’, a spokesman said.

And a French ship viewed as the best and final hope of finding the missing Titanic submersible has also dropped its remote-controlled sub to find the missing quintet.

Five people are onboard, including British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding and Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, who is just 19

French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is in the sub along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition

This is how Titan could be saved by the French ship, if it is found

L’Atalante arrived on the scene at 11.48am GMT and has deployed Victor 6000, which can reach depths of 20,000ft and will arrive at the Titanic’s wreck in the next two hours.

Victor 6000 has arms that can cut cables – or dislodge a trapped or stranded vessel – and may be able to fix a cable onto the sub before it is hauled several miles to the surface by a giant winch with more than three miles of cable called a Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System on Horizon Arctic.

Despite fears their oxygen supplies have run out, there is still hope in the most desperate of situations. 

Experts believe that the 96-hour oxygen supply number is an imprecise estimate and could be extended if those on board have taken measures to conserve breathable air including lying still and even sleeping.

Guillermo Sohnlein founded OceanGate with Mr Rush in 2009 and believes that the window for finding them could go beyond the US Coast Guard’s prediction. 

He said: ‘Today will be a critical day in this search and rescue mission, as the sub’s life support supplies are starting to run low.

‘I’m certain that Stockton and the rest of the crew realised days ago that the best thing they can do to ensure their rescue is to extend the limits of those supplies by relaxing as much as possible. 

‘I firmly believe that the time window available for their rescue is longer than what most people think. I continue to hold out hope for my friend and the rest of the crew’.