A search and rescue mission was underway Monday after a submersible on a trip to explore the wreckage of the Titanic went missing, Lt. Jordan Hart of the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston told CBS News.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said the vessel was reported overdue around 9:13 p.m. Sunday, about 435 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Lt. Cmdr. Len Hickey said a Canadian Coast Guard vessel and military aircraft were assisting the search effort, being led by the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston and beginning in the North Atlantic, near the wreckage of the HMS Titanic, which lies about 400 miles off Newfoundland’s coast.
This comes at the same time OceanGate Expeditions, a company specializing in deploying deep sea expeditions, said on its website and social media it was exploring the Titanic wreckage, using Starlink satellites to maintain communication with the crew.
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OceanGate Expeditions confirmed the search for its five-person submersible, capable of diving 13,120 feet and weighing 20,000 pounds, and said its focus was on those aboard the vessel and their families.
“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,” the company said in a statement. “We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers.”
The vessel has a 96-hour oxygen supply.
David Concannon, an adviser to the company, said Oceangate lost contact with the sub Sunday morning. The adviser said he was supposed to be on the dive but had a conflicting client matter, adding officials are working to get a remotely operated vehicle that can reach a depth of about 20,000 feet to the site as soon as possible.
Action Aviation confirmed that its company chairman, U.K. businessman Hamish Harding, was one of the tourists on board. The company’s managing director, Mark Butler, told the AP that the crew set out on Friday.
“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,” Butler said. “We’re all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound.”
The expedition marked OceanGate’s third annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of the iconic ocean liner that struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew.
The initial group of tourists was funding the expedition by spending anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000 apiece.
The latest trip was scheduled to depart from St. John’s, Newfoundland, in early May and finish up at the end of June, according to a court documents filed by the company in April with a U.S. District Court in Virginia that presides over Titanic matters.
OceanGate hired the Canadian vessel Polar Prince, a medium duty icebreaker that was formerly operated by the Canadian Coast Guard, to ferry dozens of people and the watercraft to the North Atlantic wreck site.
The company told the court that Titan’s viewport is “the largest of any deep diving submersible” and that its technology provides an “unrivaled view” of the deep ocean.
Chris Parry, a retired navy rear admiral from the U.K., told Sky News that the rescue taking place was “a very difficult operation.”
“”The actual nature of the seabed is very undulating. Titanic herself lies in a trench. There’s lots of debris around. So trying to differentiate with sonar in particular and trying to target the area you want to search in with another submersible is going to be very difficult indeed,” Parry said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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