2023-06-19 23:29:21
The small submarine that disappeared in the North Atlantic while exploring the remains of the mythical British liner Titanic had five passengers on board, which triggered a multinational search and rescue operation, US and Canadian authorities confirmed this Monday (06.19.2023).
The boat was reported lost on Sunday about 435 miles off John’s, Newfoundland, according to Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The submarine, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, began its descent Sunday morning and lost contact with the surface less than two hours later, the US Coast Guard said on Twitter.
The US Coast Guard said in a statement Monday that one of its aircraft was “searching for five people after the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince lost contact with its submersible during a dive approximately 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) to the east. of Cape Cod.”
The Canadian Coast Guard said it is also participating in the search effort with a fixed-wing aircraft and a ship dispatched to the search area.
96 hour autonomy
OceanGate Expedition uses a submersible called the Titan for its dives to a maximum depth of 4,000 meters (13,100 feet). She has a range of 96 hours for a crew of five people.
In a statement cited by CBS News and other media outlets, OceanGate Expeditions said: “Our entire focus is on the submersible crew members and their families.”
British millionaire and aviator Hamish Harding posted on his Instagram account on Sunday that he was “proud to finally announce” that he had joined the OceanGate Expedition “for its RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the submarine going down the Titanic.”
It was not known who else was on board. Harding wrote that “the submarine team has a pair of legendary explorers, some of whom have made more than 30 dives on the RMS Titanic since the 1980s.”
The Titanic left the English port of Southampton on April 10, 1912 for a maiden voyage to New York, but sank after hitting an iceberg five days later. Of the 2,224 passengers and crew on board, almost 1,500 died.
The remains of the ocean liner were discovered in 1985 650 kilometers off the Canadian coast, at a depth of 4,000 meters in international waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Since then, treasure hunters and tourists have visited the area.
jc (afp, ap)
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