Know All About Missing Titanic Submersible

A submersible named Titan on a tourism expedition to explore the wreckage of the Titanic has gone missing off the coast of southeastern Canada on Sunday morning.

A massive search is underway to find the submersible diving vessel with five people aboard after the US Coast Guard got a call from the submersible's command ship, the Polar Prince, saying it lost contact with the vessel about 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

In a statement, OceanGate Expeditions said on Monday that it was "mobilising all options" to rescue those on board the vessel. It was not immediately clear how many people were missing.

"Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible 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. We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers," it said in a statement.

On Sunday, a C-130 aircraft equipped with radar capability was deployed to scour the designated region and later it was joined by a Canadian P-8 Poseidon, an aircraft specifically designed for countering submersible.

The company says it uses a submersible named Titan for its dives to a maximum depth of 4,000 meters (13,100 feet). It has a range of 96 hours for a crew of five.

The company, specializing in manned submersibles for deep-sea exploration, has previously promoted an exclusive opportunity for adventurous tourists to descend to the RMS Titanic wreckage in this specific submersible, offering seats at a price of $250,000 each.

The missing vessel has between 70 to 96 hours of oxygen left, as per the US Coast Guard's estimation on Monday afternoon.

"Crewed submersibles provide a stable yet modular underwater solution for expediting sensitive research in deep ocean environments and testing the next generation of subsea equipment," the company claims on its website.

Who Was On Board?

One of the passengers is identified as Hamish Harding, a British businessman. The 58-year-old is an aviator, a space tourist, and chairman of Dubai-based Action Aviation announced before he commenced his journey that he had joined OceanGate Expedition.

On his Instagram account, he wrote, "I am proud to finally announce that I joined @oceangateexped for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic.

Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. 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. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.

The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet.

More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds!"

Pakistani business magnate Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were also on board Titan. "We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety," sources from the family told Reuters.

Multiple reports have claimed that the Australian, Stockton Rush, founder and chief executive officer of OceanGate, and French pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet, were also on board.

Theories:

Even as the search operation is on, there are many theories doing rounds over the missing vessel. Based on the images of the vessel published in the media, he said there are two possibilities, France24 reported.

According to his statement, he suggested that in case of an electrical or communications issue, the submersible could have surfaced and stayed afloat, potentially waiting to be discovered.

He further explained, "Another possibility is that the pressure hull suffered a breach, resulting in a leak. In such a case, the outlook is unfavorable."

Although the submersible might have remained intact during its descent, he emphasized that there are very few vessels capable of reaching the depths the Titan might have descended to.

Even on social media, many are posting wild theories.