During an expedition to explore the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, a submarine carrying five people has disappeared without a trace.
A tourist submarine has mysteriously vanished in the North Atlantic during an underwater exploration of the legendary RMS Titanic wreckage, sparking an urgent search and rescue operation, says the Boston Coast Guard. An official from the coast guard confirmed that a small submarine, with five passengers went missing near the Titanic wreck. The submarine is run by OceanGate Expeditions, which provides tours of the sunken luxury liner lying 370 miles off Newfoundland’s coast, submerged in 12,500 feet of water.
Prayers Pour In For The Missing
Concerned well-wishers started sending prayers for the missing as of Monday. The “unsinkable” Titanic, a British liner, sank during its maiden journey from Britain to the U.S in April 1912, after a deadly collision with an iceberg. This catastrophic event claimed 1,514 lives out of 2,224 onboard and is the most notorious civil maritime disaster. Its remains were found more than 70 years later. OceanGate Expeditions started providing tours to the wreck site two years ago, charging a hefty $125,000 per passenger, a price which has now doubled.
Submarine Vanishes During Titanic Expedition
According to OceanGate’s website, an eight-day expedition to the wreckage was planned from June 12-20, with six tourists scheduled to participate. Among the participants was billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation, who expressed his thrill about the underwater exploration on social media.
Harding, a day earlier, posted about the severe winter in Newfoundland, predicting this voyage could be the only one to the Titanic in 2023. He had mentioned their planned dive, following preparations and briefings, and left from St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.
Despite being in the middle of the North Atlantic, we have the internet connection we need to make our #Titanic dive operations a success – thank you @Starlink! pic.twitter.com/sujBmPr3JD
— OceanGate Expeditions (@OceanGateExped) June 1, 2023
Hope For a Safe Return
OceanGate confirmed the ongoing expedition and stated its primary focus is on the safety and rescue of the submarine crew.
A statement from the company read:
“For some time, we have been unable to establish communications with one of our submersible exploration vehicles which is currently visiting the wreck site of the Titanic. Our entire focus is on the wellbeing of the crew and every step possible is being taken to bring the five crew members back safely. We are deeply grateful for the urgent and extensive assistance we are receiving from multiple government agencies and deep-sea companies as we seek to reestablish contact with the submersible. We pray for the safe return of the crew and passengers, and we will provide updates as they are available.”
The U.S Coast Guard reported a 10,000 square-mile search for the missing submersible as of Tuesday morning. Assistance is pouring in from a Canadian P3 Aurora aircraft for sonar searches and from research vessels R/V Polar Prince and R/V Deep Energy for surface searches.
The French government announced on Tuesday that President Emmanuel Macron has given the command to deploy the research ship Atlante to join the international search mission for the missing Titanic tourist submarine, as per CNN.
What happened to the submarine?
So what happened to the submarine? As of now, we do not know, but there are a couple of things that could have happened. And this is purely guesswork. The submarine has several different ways to return to the surface, including balloons or propellers. It also has several backups. If it is not on the surface, it could have snagged onto something, like a massive fishnet or even a part of the Titanic, or there was a leak, and it imploded. As of writing, the submersible is believed to have around less than 72 hours of air.
Have something to add? Visit Curiosmos on Facebook. Join the discussion in our mobile Telegram group.
