The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday it is expanding the number of boats and aircraft to search for a tourist submersible that went missing while on a trip to visit the sunken remains of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Crews are searching about 900 miles east of Cape Cod in depths of about 13,000 feet, said Coast Guard 1st District Cmdr. Rear Adm. John Mauger, according to The Hill.
“It is a remote area, and it is a challenge to search,” Mauger said at a briefing. “But we are deploying all available assets to make sure we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board.”
The 21-foot submersible with a five-person crew lost contact with a Canadian research vessel Sunday about two hours into its dive. The Hill reported the submersible has life support for about 96 hours.
The Coast Guard out of Boston is conducting the search along with Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax, operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Coast Guard. Canada has deployed a P8 Poseidon aircraft it said is capable of detecting objects underwater.
Mauger said, according to The Hill, officials also deployed sonar buoys and were looking on the surface — in case the sub emerged but still lacks communication capabilities — and underwater.
Sky News reported Monday that British billionaire Hamish Harding was one of five people on board. The news organization also identified French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, CEO and founder of OceanGate Expeditions, which owned the submersible, named Titan, as also being on board.
“We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely,” OceanGate Expeditions tweeted Monday afternoon. “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.”
OceanGate Expeditions said on its website it conducted dives for the Titanic in 2021 and 2022 in efforts to “fully document and model the wreck site.” It had planned to make 18 dives this year.
The Titanic sunk on April 15, 1912, after it struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York. The ocean liner’s deteriorating wreckage is in two pieces at the bottom of the North Atlantic, about 12,500 feet below the surface, and nearly 380 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
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