Search and rescue mission underway after Titanic tourist submersible goes missing
A search and rescue mission is underway after operators lost communications with a vessel taking people to visit the Titanic, ITV News Correspondent Lucy Watson reports
A submersible taking tourists to view the wreck of the Titanic has gone missing, sparking a search and rescue mission.
The underwater vessel disappeared off the coast of southeast Canada on Sunday, and has just 70-96 hours of oxygen supply left, as of Monday evening.
The submersible lost contact with Oceangate on Sunday, one hour and 45 minutes after setting off to explore the infamous ship's wreckage, about 370 miles away from Newfoundland.
British businessman Hamish Harding is on the missing submersible, which has five people on board, according to the US coast guard.
A submersible is an underwater craft that has very limited power reserves and therefore needs a mother ship to launch and recover it. A submarine has enough power to transport itself.
Lt. Jordan Hart of the US Coast Guard told CBS News personnel were "currently undergoing a search and rescue operation".
OceanGate Expeditions, the company behind the trip, said it is "exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely".
"Our entire focus is on crew members in the submersible and their families," OceanGate said in a statement to CBS.
The spokesperson added: "We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible.
"We are working toward the safe return of the crew members."
David Concannon, an adviser to Oceangate, who was supposed to be part of the mission, said the sub had a 96-hour oxygen supply but it's been "32 hours since [the] sub left surface".
He said officials are working to get a remotely operated vehicle that can reach a depth of 6,000 metres to the site as soon as possible.
The coastguard has sent a P8 Poseidon aircraft, which can detect objects underwater, to scour the area, approximately 900 miles off Cape Cod.
Three tug boats - Polar Prince, Kopit Hobson 1752, Horizon Arctic - are near the Titanic site from the port of St Johns, in Canada, according to boat monitoring site Marine Traffic.
Polar Prince was hired to ferry around forty people and the submersible to the wreckage, according to court documents submitted by OceanGate.
On Thursday (June 15), OceanGate said on its website and social media feeds that an expedition to the wreckage of the HMS Titanic, was "underway".
Crew member Mr Harding was one of the tourists on board, his company Action Aviation confirmed.
The company’s managing director, Mark Butler, said the crew set out on Friday.
Mr Butler said: “Every attempt is being made for a rescue mission.
"There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board for survival in this event.”
“We’re all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound.”
On Wednesday, Oceangate said on Twitter, that there was no mobile phone reception out at sea and that it was using Elon Musk's satellite company Starlink to help maintain communications with its expedition.
In 2021, OceanGate Expeditions began what it hoped would become an annual trip to record the deterioration of the wreck of the Titanic.
Initially the tourists' fee was funding the expedition - they paid anywhere from $100,000 (£77255.45) to $150,000 (£117,393) each.
OceanGate’s 2023 expedition is believed to have set off in early May and was due to get back to shore by the end of June, according to a court documents filed by the company in April with a US District Court in Virginia which presides over the Titanic.
The company hired tug boat Polar Prince, which is believed to be at the site of the Titanic wreckage, to ferry dozens of people and the submersible craft to the North Atlantic site.
The submersible is named Titan according to the court documents.
It carries five people and is capable of diving 4,000 metres or 13,120 ft. “with a comfortable safety margin,” OceanGate said on its website.
The official Twitter account for the Titanic museum has sent its "thoughts and prayers" to everyone involved.
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