Global Courant
The Titanic lies 3,800 meters deep at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean (file image)
A submarine that was used to take people to the wreck of the Titanic has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean with its crew on board, sparking a major search and rescue operation.
Tour company OceanGate, which runs $250,000 per seat expeditions to the wreck, said it was exploring all options to get the crew back safely.
It said government agencies and deep-sea companies helped the operation.
The Titanic sank in 1912 and lies about 3,800 meters below the waves.
The missing vessel is believed to be OceanGate’s Titan submarine, a truck-sized submarine that can accommodate five people and usually dives with a four-day supply of oxygen.
It is not known when contact with the vessel was lost.
“Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submarine and their families,” OceanGate said in a statement.
“We are deeply grateful for the extensive assistance we have received from various government agencies and deep-sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submarine,” it added.
The company bills the eight-day trip on its carbon fiber submarine as an “opportunity to step outside of everyday life and discover something extraordinary.”
According to the website, one expedition is underway and two more are planned for June 2024.
Titan submarine from OceanGate
The sub usually has a pilot, three paying guests, and what the company calls a “content expert.”
A full dive to the Titanic wreckage, including the descent and ascent, is reported to take about eight hours.
The OceanGate website lists three submarines it owns, and only the Titan can dive deep enough to reach the Titanic’s wreckage.
The ship weighs 10,432 kg (23,000 lbs) and can go to depths of 4,000 meters, according to the website, and has 96 hours of life support for a crew of five.
A tugboat called the Polar Prince, which is used to transport submersibles, was involved in the expedition, its owner told the BBC.
The Titanic, the largest ship of its time, collided with an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in 1912. Of the 2,200 passengers and crew on board, more than 1,500 were killed.
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The wreck is located about 600 km off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
It has been extensively researched since it was discovered in 1985.
The wreck lies in two parts, with the bow and stern about 800 meters apart. A huge field of debris surrounds the broken ship.
Last month, the first full-scale digital scan of the wreck was made using deep-sea charts. The scan shows both the scale of the ship and some minute details, such as the serial number on one of the propellers.
Map shows the location of the Titanic wreck
