A frantic marine search is underway for a missing tourist submersible which has not been seen since it launched to take five people to the Titanic wreckage yesterday morning.
The Boston Coastguard and Canadian Coastguard are both now looking for the missing vessel that is operated by tour company OceanGate Expeditions.
The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft- 2.5 miles – underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada. OceanGate Expeditions is thought to be the only company that offers the tours.
As of 1pm Monday, the sub had just 72 hours of oxygen left, according to the US Coast Guard Admiral leading the coordinated effort to find it.
Among those feared to be missing onboard is British billionaire Hamish Harding. He posted excitedly on Instagram about being able to commence the dive after a bout of bad weather in Newfoundland.
Expedition ship Polar Prince is believed to have departed St Johns in Newfoundland on Saturday, with the submersible launching at around 4am Sunday.
OceanGate has not confirmed how long the sub has been missing, but Rear Admiral John W. Mauger told Fox News that it had 72 hours of oxygen left based on OceanGate’s ads that the sub has a life support of 96 hours.
OceanGate Expeditions is one of the only companies that offers the tours. Tickets cost up to $250,000.
The Boston Coastguard is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada
Video from a previous mission shows the interior of the submersible that has been underwater since yesterday morning
Tickets cost $250,000 for an eight-day excursion during which groups pair off into smaller pods to dive in the submersibles for up to ten hours.
The company on Monday confirmed its sub was missing.
French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet is believed to be taking part in the expedition, though it’s unclear if he is onboard the missing sub
‘We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely.
‘Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families.
‘We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers.
According to OceanGate’s online materials, the Titan can operate safely for up to 96 hours with a crew of five onboard.
The sub uses Elon Musk’s Starlink to communicate with its mothership because it is so far out to sea.
Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there. Harding said it a ‘window’ had opened up that would allow the group to dive.
‘A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.
‘We started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning,’ he wrote.
His company, Action Aviation, posted yesterday at 4am confirming that he was ‘diving’. ‘Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.’
Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted to social media about being there yesterday
Harding excitedly posted to social media about being on the mission
The Polar Prince is the expedition ship used to take tourists from Newfoundland out to the wreckage site. The sub is deployed once out at sea
Naval experts say the wreckage is in such a position that it will be a ‘difficult’ recovery mission.
‘It’s very worrying. It could have become entangled in the wreckage of Titanic, we don’t know yet.
‘The wreck site is a long way from anywhere.
‘The only hope one has is that the mothership will have a standby craft that can investigate immediately what is going on,’ Former Rear Admiral Chris Parry said during an appearance on Sky News.
Images from Ocean Gate, one of the tour companies that operates the expeditions, show the wreckage
Marine Traffic shows the Canadian Coast Guard’s Horizon Arctic and Kopit Hobson 1752 are now making their way to the wreckage and the Polar Prince, the boat used for the expedition
Marine Traffic shows the Canadian Coast Guard’s Horizon Arctic and Kopit Hobson 1752 are now making their way to the wreckage.
Its dives can last up to 10 hours each, with participants spending a total of eight days at sea onboard a larger ship.
In an interview last year, the company’s CEO Stockton Rush told CBC that their subs had capacity for five people.
‘Titan is the only five-person sub capable of going to the Titanic depth, which is half the depth of the ocean.’
‘There’s no switches and things to bump into, we have one button to turn it on.
‘Everything else is done with touch screens and computers, and so you really become part of the vehicle and everybody gets to know everyone pretty well.’
The 2023 expeditions are only the third the company has carried out in the Titan.
