Billionaire among the missing as tourist submersible exploring Titanic wreck disappears

A massive search is under way for a submersible that remains missing off the south-east coast of Canada while taking tourists to explore the wreckage of the Titanic.

The US Coast Guard said one pilot and four passengers are on board, and that the vessel had the capacity to be submerged for 96 hours, but it was unclear whether it was still underwater or had surfaced and was unable to communicate.

US and Canadian ships and planes have swarmed the area about 1450 km east of Cape Cod, some dropping sonar buoys that can monitor to a depth of 3962 meters, US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said.

“It is a remote area and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area,” Mauger said.

Undated photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company’s Titan submersible.Credit: OceanGate Expeditions via AP

“We are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board,” he said. “Going into this evening, we will continue to fly aircraft and move additional vessels.”

Mauger told reporters it was estimated that the people inside the submersible would theoretically have between 70 and 96 hours of air.

“We’re using that time making the best use of every moment of that time,” Mauger said.

Mauger said officials have also been reaching out to commercial vessels for help.

The private company that operates the submersible, OceanGate Expeditions, said in a statement on Monday that it was “mobilising all options” to rescue those on board.

British billionaire Hamish Harding is among the passengers, according to a social media post from a relative.

Hamish Harding ahead of the expedition.Credit: Facebook

The US Coast Guard said earlier on Twitter that a boat on the surface – the Polar Prince – lost contact with the submersible, called the Titan, about one hour and 45 minutes after it began diving toward the site of the Titanic’s wreckage on Sunday morning.

OceanGate said: “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.”

Harding’s stepson wrote on Facebook that Harding had “gone missing on submarine” and asked for “thoughts and prayers”. The stepson subsequently removed the post, citing respect for the family’s privacy.

Harding himself had posted on Facebook a day earlier that he would be aboard the vessel. There have been no further posts from him. The expedition headed out to sea on Friday, and the first dive was set for Sunday morning, according to Harding’s post.

The company is operating its fifth Titanic “mission” of 2023, according to its website, which had been scheduled to start last week and finish on Thursday.

The expedition, which costs $US250,000 per person, starts in St John’s, Newfoundland, before heading out approximately 640 kilometres into the Atlantic to the wreckage site, according to OceanGate’s website.

In order to visit the wreck, passengers climb inside Titan, the five-person submersible, which takes about two hours to descend to the Titanic.

The British passenger ship famously sank in 1912 on its maiden voyage after striking an iceberg, killing more than 1500 people. The story has been immortalised in non-fiction and fiction books as well as the 1997 blockbuster movie Titanic.

Reuters

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.