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Missing Titanic sub search in critical phase amid fears over oxygen levels
The huge search for a missing submersible vessel near the wreck of the Titanic has entered a critical stage, as fears mount over the oxygen levels that may be on board.
If the sub is still functional and intact, it may only have low levels of oxygen left based on earlier estimates.
It went missing in a remote area of the North Atlantic on Sunday with a four-day oxygen supply for its crew of five.
And on Thursday many questions remained over how it could be recovered.
The minivan-sized submersible, which was owned and operated by the private company OceanGate Expeditions, is yet to be located. If it is found, it will need to be reached by complex rescue equipment and then brought to the surface in an operation that would likely take hours.
That would need to happen before the oxygen supply runs out and without damaging its structure or endangering those on board.
The condition of the vessel and its crew of five is unknown, but the US Coast Guard said the operation remains a rescue mission. “This is a search-and-rescue mission, 100%,” Captain Jamie Frederick told reporters on Wednesday.
There appeared to be a glimmer of hope after officials said undersea noises had been detected by Canadian search planes on Tuesday and Wednesday.
But it is still unclear what these were, and officials said they may not have come from the submersible. Remote-controlled underwater search vehicles (ROVs) were deployed to the area where the sounds were detected but are yet to find anything.
One of the ROVs, deployed from the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic, reached the ocean floor early Thursday morning. Several more were expected to arrive at the site later in the day, along with more multi-national support.
A French research ship, the Atalante, also arrived in the area on Thursday morning and deployed its own ROV, the US Coast Guard said. That robot is capable of researching depths below the Titanic wreck, which lies about 12,500 ft (3,810m) below the surface, and has experience of surveying the Titanic.
The overall area of sea being scoured is about 26,000 sq km (10,000 sq miles), twice the size of the US state of Connecticut. The area is prone to stormy conditions and poor visibility which makes search operations more challenging, experts say.
On board the 21-foot vessel is British businessman Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, former French navy diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet and the CEO of OceanGate – which operates the submersible – Stockton Rush.
“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 from the US Coast Guard told the BBC.
Dr Ken LeDez, a hyperbaric medicine expert at Memorial University in St John’s, Newfoundland, told the BBC it was possible the crew could survive even as oxygen supplies dwindle, depending on the crew’s fitness and the conditions in the submersible.
While it is impossible to know the exact conditions inside, Dr LeDez said the crew will likely be facing increasing levels of carbon dioxide and could also be dealing with cold temperatures, along with the declining levels of oxygen.
A combination of these factors could lead to hypothermia and a loss of consciousness, he said. But these conditions aren’t necessarily deadly and their metabolisms slowing down because of the cold could help them survive longer, he added.
“They’re very smart… very accomplished people in there,” he said. “If anybody can survive” in it, “it’s these individuals.”
source :BBC
President John Dramani Mahama has commissioned four career diplomats as ambassador-designates to represent Ghana in four countries.
The commissioning ceremony took place on Friday, October 16, 2026.
The new envoys are Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo, Ambassador-Designate to Angola; His Excellency Louis Kwame Obeng, Ambassador-Designate to Qatar; Her Excellency Evelyn Korantemaa Ofosu-Amable, Ambassador-Designate to Israel; and His Excellency Jedidiah Reuben Adogla, Permanent Representative-Designate to Switzerland.
President Mahama charged them to advance Ghana’s national interests through strategic partnerships, economic diplomacy, investment mobilization, and expanded access to international markets.
He said Ghana’s diplomatic engagements must deliver tangible economic benefits, create jobs, and strengthen the country’s standing on the international stage.
The four envoys are career diplomats with over 27 years of experience.
On behalf of her colleagues, Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo thanked the President for the confidence reposed in them and pledged their commitment to emulate his leadership and deliver on the mandate given to them.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The professor who spends his days exploring the intricacies of African languages found himself at the centre of a different kind of lesson on Friday, October 2, 2026. 
This time, there were no lecture notes, academic arguments or university classrooms. Instead, there was the weight of tradition, the rhythm of a community celebration and the solemnity of an oath at a royal palace.
Professor Ọbádélé Kambon, a full Professor of African Linguistics at the University of Ghana, was enstooled as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene of Akuapem Mampong in the Eastern Region in a ceremony that brought academia and traditional authority together.
For the professor, the occasion was more than a new title. It was a moment that connected his academic interests in African languages and indigenous knowledge with the living traditions of an Akan community.
The day’s events unfolded through a series of customary observances. Kambon was first taken to the compounds of the Ɔkyeamehene and Gyasehene, where the preparations for his installation continued.
Then came the application of hyire, the white kaolin powder associated with traditional rites.
With the customary proceedings underway, the new chief was lifted onto the shoulders of celebrants and carried along the main thoroughfare of Akuapem Mampong.
The procession transformed the streets into a public stage for a ceremony rooted in the community’s traditional institutions.
There was something striking about the image, a university professor, accustomed to the measured language of academic discourse, being carried through the town in a display of traditional recognition.
Yet the celebration was not complete with the procession.
A ram was sacrificed at the Mamponghene’s compound before Kambon was taken to the palace, to swear the oath associated with his new offices.
The ceremony brought him formally into his roles as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene.
Beyond the colourful proceedings, the titles themselves carry layers of historical meaning.
Kambon in his research explores the historical connections between Apagya and Akan political and military organisation.
Accounts cited in his work linked Apagya to an asafo, or military company, while historical writing traces an Apagya stool in Asante to the reign of Opoku Ware I in the eighteenth century.
These historical associations offer a glimpse into the institutions that have shaped Akan society over generations, although they do not automatically define the precise responsibilities of the office in Akuapem Mampong.
Kambon’s own professional life reflects a similar interest in preserving and examining African knowledge.
His work encompasses Akan language structure, naming practices across the Black world, proverbs and indigenous intellectual traditions.
Through Abibitumi, the platform he founded, he also promotes language learning, scholarship and cultural engagement.
But tradition was only one part of the story that day.
When the formal ceremony gave way to a reception, the occasion expanded into a celebration of three milestones: Kambon’s enstoolment, his promotion to full professor and his daughter Ama’s admission to the University of Ghana.
The gathering therefore carried a personal significance that went beyond the honours bestowed on one man. 
It celebrated professional advancement, the continuation of family aspirations and a connection to cultural heritage.
For a father, seeing a daughter gain admission to the same university where he holds a distinguished academic position offered another reason to celebrate.
For the professor, the moment placed family achievement alongside his own professional and traditional milestones.
Kambon had already established a place in the traditional life of Akuapem Mampɔn through an earlier installation as Banmuhene Kyidɔmhene, recorded in 2017.
His latest enstoolment adds another chapter to that relationship.
In Akuapem Mampɔn, the day brought together the university, the palace and the family table in one celebration. And for Kambon, the journey from the lecture room to the traditional procession showed how scholarship, cultural responsibility and family achievement could converge in a single memorable occasion.
By Enoch Ntiamoah Siaw
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