A race against time has begun. The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday that it had launched a search-and-rescue mission to find a small tourist submarine used to visit the area where the Titanic sank, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North America.
OceanGate Expeditions, the company in charge of the mission, says it is exploring “all options to bring the crew back safely”. Le Parisien reports on the disappearance of the Titanic submersible.
Who’s on board?
Five people are on board the submarine, John Mauger, Commander ofFirst Coast Guard, confirmed on Monday evening. Among those missing is a pilot, accompanied by four deep-sea specialists. British businessman Hamish Harding is on board the “Titan”, announced the “Action Aviation” company of which he is CEO.
On his Instagram account, Hamish Harding announced his participation in the expedition on Saturday. In his post, he stated that he would be taking part in the mission alongside Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French oceanographer specializing in the Titanic. We are unable to confirm his formal presence in the submarine, but a member of his entourage confirmed to Le Parisien that he was on site for the mission, and chief executive and founder of OceanGate Expeditions, Stockton Rush, were also on board.
“The submarine’s crew is made up of some legendary explorers, some of whom have made more than 30 dives on the RMS Titanic since the 1980s,” Hamish Harding wrote in the publication.
Contacted by AFP, his company declined to comment. According to the Guardian, he is one of the few tourists to have been to space.
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Where are the searches taking place?
According to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax (Canada), the submersible’s signal was transmitted late at 9:13 pm on Sunday, 700 km off Newfoundland, Canada’s easternmost province.
A Canadian Coast Guard vessel and a military aircraft are actively involved in the search. The search is being led by the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston, according to AP. The mobilized vessel “was off eastern Newfoundland and has left for the search area”, Canadian authorities told AFP.