Tourist sub goes missing near Titanic wreck; search will continue overnight
ByTheresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
RMS Titanic Authorities launched a search for a submersible that went missing near the site of the wreck of the Titanic on Monday, June 19, 2023. (Xavier Desmier/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images, File)
ByTheresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Authorities launched a search Monday after a submersible used to take people to visit the wreckage of the Titanic vanished in the Atlantic Ocean, according to multiple reports.
A spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston told The Guardian on Monday that “a small submarine with five persons onboard had gone missing in the vicinity of the Titanic wreck.” Lt. Jordan Hart told CBS News that officials were “undergoing a search and rescue operation.”
Search will continue overnight
Update 9:34 p.m. EDT June 19: The First Coast Guard District said that rescue efforts will continue overnight. The Polar Prince Follow and the 106th Rescue Wing will conduct surface searches.
Two C-130 flights have been completed from Elizabeth City, the organization said. A surface and subsurface search by Canada’s P8 Poseidon aircraft will resume on Tuesday morning.
— Bob D’Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
The Polar Prince and @Rescue106 will continue to do surface searches throughout the evening.
Two C-130 flights have been completed from @USCG CG Air Station Elizabeth City.@hfxjrcc Surface/subsurface search by Canadian P8 Poseidon aircraft to continue in the morning.
Update 4:42 p.m. EDT June 19: During a news conference Monday afternoon, Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, said the submersible had a “sustainable emergency capability” of 96 hours and that crews would continue to search for the vessel.
Mauger said the vessel was probably between “70 to the full 96 hours” of its emergency capability.
Mauger said the Titanic wreckage was located in “a remote area” of the North Atlantic Ocean, in water that was approximately 13,000 feet deep. The submersible was located about 900 miles east of Cape Cod and about 370 miles southeast of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Hamish Harding, the chairman of Action Aviation, is among those aboard the missing submersible, Mark Butler, the company’s managing director, told The New York Times. Harding wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday that a dive had been planned for Sunday, noting that “A weather window has just opened up.”
Mauger told reporters that the U.S. has deployed two C-130 aircraft, with an additional plane on the way from the New York National Guard. Canadian officials have sent a C-130 and a P8 submarine search aircraft, he said.
— Bob D’Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard said at a news conference that “we are doing everything we can do” to find the submersible and rescue the five people inside. Watch live as officials give an update on the search-and-rescue mission. https://t.co/PyPQ5zHKQb
Original report: In a series of statements posted on social media, Coast Guard officials confirmed that a crew was searching for the submersible about 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod. Authorities said the crew of the Polar Prince, a Canadian research vessel, lost contact with the submersible about an hour and 45 minutes into the vessel’s dive.
The owner of the Polar Prince earlier told BBC News that the vessel, which is used to take submersibles to the wreckage site, was part of the expedition.
A @USCG C-130 crew is searching for an overdue Canadian research submarine approximately 900 miles off #CapeCod.
For more info and inquiries, please email d1publicaffairs@uscg.mil
The @USCG is searching for a 21-foot submersible from the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince.
The 5 person crew submerged Sunday morning, and the crew of the Polar Prince lost contact with them approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes into the vessel’s dive.
Officials with OceanGate Expeditions, a private, U.S.-based company that uses manned submersibles for deep sea explorations, confirmed in a statement obtained by BBC News that it owns the missing vessel. The company launched an expedition to the Titanic on June 16, according to its website. OceanGate’s submersible can seat five people, typically including a pilot, three paying guests and an expert, BBC News reported.
Company officials told CBC News that they were “exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely” on Monday.
“Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families,” the company said. “We are working toward the safe return of the crew members.”
The vessel was reported missing after it was overdue by a few hours on Sunday, according to CBC News. Officials with the Canadian Coast Guard told the news network that Monday’s search fell under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, which helped to find the wreckage of the Titanic in 1985, told WFXT that the organization’s engineers and researchers were “providing expertise as warranted” and monitoring the situation on Monday.
A British passenger liner, the RMS Titanic was the largest ship of its time and touted as “unsinkable.” During its maiden voyage in 1912, it hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic Ocean, killing more than 1,500 people.
The wreckage of the ship sits about 380 nautical miles south of Newfoundland in Canada at a depth of about 12,800 feet.
In February, a rare and in some cases never before publicly seen video of the 1986 dive through the wreckage of the Titanic was released by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
The more than 80 minutes of footage on the WHOI’s YouTube channel chronicles some of the remarkable achievements of the dive led by Robert Ballard that marked the first time human eyes had seen the giant ocean liner since it struck an iceberg and sank in the frigid North Atlantic in April 1912. About 1,500 people died during the ship’s maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City.
In May, A company called Magellan revealed images of the wreckage of the Titanic which is about 3,800 meters deep in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Magellan said in a news release that it was the first-ever full-sized digital scan of the ship and it provides a “unique” view of the wreckage.
The images create a 3D view of the ship and let you see the wreckage as if “the water has been drained way,” the BBC reported. The company is hoping that it will provide more information on what happened to the Titanic on its maiden voyage in 1912.
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Titanic FILE PHOTO: On September 1, 1985, underwater explorer Robert Ballard located the world's most famous shipwreck. The Titanic lay largely intact at a depth of 12,000 feet off the coast of St. John's, Newfoundland. Using a small submersible craft, Ballard explored the wreck in 1986, taking a series of spectacular and haunting pictures and giving the world its first glimpse of the legendary ship in 73 years. (Ralph White/Getty Images)
Titanic 29th April 1912: Stewards who survived the Titanic shipwreck line up outside a first class waiting room before being called in for questioning by the board of enquiry. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) (Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
Titanic NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 05: Artifacts recovered from the wreck site of the RMS Titanic on display at the Titanic Auction preview at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum on January 5, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/WireImage) (John Lamparski/WireImage)
Titanic Undated artist impression showing the 14 April 1912 shipwreck of the British luxury passenger liner Titanic off the Nova-Scotia coasts, during its maiden voyage. The supposedly 'Unsinkable' Titanic set sail down Southampton Water en-route to New York on 10 April 1912 and met disaster on 14 April 1912 after hitting an iceberg off Newfoundland shortly before midnight and sinking two hours later, killing about 1,500 passengers and ship personnel. (Photo credit: OFF/AFP via Getty Images) (AFP/AFP via Getty Images)
Titanic A.U.V.s explore the wreck of the Titanic (Mmdi/Getty Images)
Titanic RMS Titanic Of The White Star Line Sinking Around 2 20 Am Monday Morning April 15 1912 After Hitting An Iceberg In The North Atlantic (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty)
Titanic The 46 328 Tons RMS Titanic Of The White Star Line Which Sank At 2 20 Am Monday Morning April 15 After Hitting Iceberg In North Atlantic 1912 (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty)
Titanic The White Star Line passenger liner R.M.S. Titanic embarking on its ill-fated maiden voyage. (Bettmann/Bettmann Archive)
Titanic Purser Hugh Walter McElroy and Captain Edward J. Smith aboard the Titanic during the run from Southampton to Queenstown, England. The man who took the photograph, Rev. F.M. Browne, got off at Queenstown, three days before the ship hit an iceberg and sank. (Photo by Ralph White/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) (Krista Few/Corbis via Getty Images)
Titanic Some of the Titanic's Notable Passengers', April 20, 1912. Photographs of well-to-do passengers, some 'known to be saved'. The White Star Line ship RMS 'Titanic' struck an iceberg in thick fog off Newfoundland on 14 April 1912. She was the largest and most luxurious ocean liner of her time, and thought to be unsinkable. In the collision, five of her watertight compartments were compromised and she sank. Out of the 2228 people on board, only 705 survived. A major cause of the loss of life was the insufficient number of lifeboats she carried. Page 5, from "Titanic In Memoriam Number", a special supplement in "The Daily Graphic" newspaper issued following the sinking of the 'Titanic' on 15 April 1912, published on 20 April 1912. Artist Unknown. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images) (Print Collector/Getty Images)
Titanic A spare anchor sits in its well on the forepeek of the shipwrecked Titanic. (Ralph White/Getty Images)
Titanic (Ralph White/Getty Images)
Titanic Allan Carlin, general counsel for RMS Titanic Inc., poses for photographers in front of a section of the hull of the RMS Titanic at the Commonwealth Pier in Boston, 21 August. The 20-ton steel piece, which was recovered 10 August from the floor of the Atlantic off Newfoundland 10 miles from the original wreck site, will join the Titanic exhibition underway at the World Trade Center in Boston. (Photo credit: STUART CAHILL/AFP via Getty Images) (AFP/AFP via Getty Images)
Titanic A telegraph message from a ship called Olympic reports that it has received word from the Titanic that it has stuck an iceberg. The message is one of several similar messages from ships in the vicinity of the Titanic detailing the events leading up to it's sinking which were on display 13 February at Christie's East in New York City and will be auctioned as part of a Maritime auction on 17 February. AFP PHOTO Matt CAMPBELL (Photo credit: MATT CAMPBELL/AFP via Getty Images) (MATT CAMPBELL/AFP via Getty Images)
Titanic Features which Contributed to the Splendours of the Titanic', April 20, 1912. A single-berth state room, a deck state room, the swimming pool, the Turkish Bath Cooling Room, the Verandah Cafe, the main staircase, the Georgian Smoke Room and the restaurant. The luxurious interior decoration included French walnut panelling, mother-of-pearl inlay and climbing plants. The White Star Line ship RMS 'Titanic' struck an iceberg in thick fog off Newfoundland on 14 April 1912. She was the largest and most luxurious ocean liner of her time, and thought to be unsinkable. In the collision, five of her watertight compartments were compromised and she sank. Out of the 2228 people on board, only 705 survived. A major cause of the loss of life was the insufficient number of lifeboats she carried. Page 6, from "Titanic In Memoriam Number", a special supplement in "The Daily Graphic" newspaper issued following the sinking of the 'Titanic' on 15 April 1912, published on 20 April 1912. Artist Unknown. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images) (Print Collector/Getty Images)
Titanic Titanic -- A 20-ton section of the hull of the Titanic was lowered into a pool underneath the Union Depot Concourse, the location of "Titanic The Exhibition." The piece was retrieved from the wreck site of the Titanic on August 10, 1998, during the most recent expedition to the ship's location at the bottom of the North Atlantic. The hull piece measures 20 feet high and 26 feet wide and is by far the largest object to ever have been retrieved from the wreck site. The section of the hull, which has several portholes and is reinforced on the inside by steel beams, comes from a part of the ship midway between the port and the stern. It is the outer wall of an unoccupied first-class cabin on C-deck.The piece will be displayed in a 5 foot deep pool filledwith a solution of soda ash and water. This will be the beginning of many months of conservation treatment designed to draw the salts out of the metal.(Photo By JERRY HOLT/Star Tribune via Getty Images) (JERRY HOLT/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Titanic (Krista Few/Getty Images)
Titanic Sinking of the Titanic April 1912: lifeboat of the Titanic, seen from the deck of the ship Carpathia (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images) (United Archives/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
Titanic Sets of breakfast dishes from the sunken Titanic (1912) are shown in New York, 25 August 1987, in the position they were found by expedition Titanic 1987. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images) (-/AFP via Getty Images)
Titanic On board the RMS Carpathia, the castaways of the RMS Titanic are supplied with blankets to keep warm. (Photo by: Carl Simon/United Archives/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (United Archives/Archiv Carl Simon/Universal Images Group via Getty)
Titanic The hole from the number one funnel of the shipwrecked Titanic. (Ralph White/Getty Images)
Titanic British merchant seaman Sir Arthur Henry Rostron (1869 - 1940) (center), captain of the RMS Carpathia, is presented with a trophy cup by American socialite Molly Brown (1867 - 1932), New York, New York, May 29, 1912. The Carpathia had been instrumental in the rescue of 705 passengers, one of whom was Brown, from the sinking RMS Titanic the previous month. (Photo by Bain Photo Collection/PhotoQuest/Getty Images) (PhotoQuest/Getty Images)
Titanic Sender of the "S. O. S."' Signal for Help', (April 20), 1912. John George Phillips (nicknamed Jack, 1887-1912) was the ship's senior wireless operator who tried to save the 'Titanic' and all those on board by transmitting pleas for help until the ship lost power and sank. He died in the tragedy and his body was never recovered. The White Star Line ship RMS 'Titanic' struck an iceberg in thick fog off Newfoundland on 14 April 1912. She was the largest and most luxurious ocean liner of her time, and thought to be unsinkable. In the collision, five of her watertight compartments were compromised and she sank. Out of the 2228 people on board, only 705 survived. A major cause of the loss of life was the insufficient number of lifeboats she carried. Page 8, from "Titanic In Memoriam Number", a special supplement in "The Daily Graphic" newspaper issued following the sinking of the 'Titanic' on 15 April 1912, published on 20 April 1912. Artist Unknown. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images) (Print Collector/Getty Images)
Titanic RMS Titanic passenger liner of the White Star Line. From The Story of 25 Eventful Years in Pictures, published 1935. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty)
Titanic The Scene Round the Fateful Board at Southampton', April 20, 1912. Anxious relatives and friends wait for news after the disaster. The White Star Line ship RMS 'Titanic' struck an iceberg in thick fog off Newfoundland on 14 April 1912. She was the largest and most luxurious ocean liner of her time, and thought to be unsinkable. In the collision, five of her watertight compartments were compromised and she sank. Out of the 2228 people on board, only 705 survived. A major cause of the loss of life was the insufficient number of lifeboats she carried. Page 20, from "Titanic In Memoriam Number", a special supplement in "The Daily Graphic" newspaper issued following the sinking of the 'Titanic' on 15 April 1912, published on 20 April 1912. Artist Unknown. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images) (Print Collector/Getty Images)
Titanic Playing cards recovered from the wreck of the RMS Titanic are displayed at an exhibition in Memphis, Tennessee. (Todd Gipstein; RMS Titanic, Inc./Getty Images)
Titanic Funeral and memorial service for the dead of the shipwreck of the RMS Titanic, 1912. (Photo by: Carl Simon/United Archives/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (United Archives/Archiv Carl Simon/Universal Images Group via Getty)
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