US-based firm OceanGate Expeditions says its vessel is the subject of a search-and-rescue operation off Canada’s Newfoundland.
A search-and-rescue operation is under way off the eastern coast of Canada and the United States, the US Coast Guard has said, after a submersible vessel used to visit the wreckage of the Titanic was reported missing.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) first reported on Monday morning that the operation was launched off the coast of Canada’s Newfoundland.
Lieutenant Jordan Hart of the US Coast Guard in Boston later told CBS News that personnel were “currently undergoing a search-and-rescue operation”.
OceanGate Expeditions, a company based in the US state of Washington that deploys manned submersibles for deep-sea expeditions, told media outlets in a statement that its vessel was the subject of the rescue operation.
“Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families,” the company said.
OceanGate did not say how many people were on board the missing vessel but said it was “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”.
David Concannon, an adviser to the company, said OceanGate lost contact with the sub on Sunday morning. It had a 96-hour oxygen supply, he said in an email to The Associated Press news agency on Monday afternoon.
“Now 32 hours since sub left surface,” said Concannon, adding that officials are working to get a remotely operated vehicle that can reach a depth of 6,000m (about 20,000 feet) to the site as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Action Aviation confirmed that its company chairman, British businessman Hamish Harding, was one of the tourists onboard. The company’s managing director, Mark Butler, told AP that the crew set out on Friday.
“Every attempt is being made for a rescue mission. There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission; there is equipment on board for survival in this event,” Butler said. “We’re all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound.”
In an Instagram post on Saturday, Harding said he was “proud to finally announce” that he would take part in the expedition.
“Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow,” he wrote.
This handout image taken during the historical 1986 dive and released February 15, 2023 shows the Titanic deck bulkhead.
The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, killing an estimated 1,500 people [File: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/AFP]
‘Very difficult’
The 2023 expedition was OceanGate’s third annual mission to visit the shipwreck of the Titanic, which sank on April 15, 1912, after colliding with an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City.
The wreck of the ill-fated ocean liner has been explored extensively since it was first discovered in 1985 about 650km (404 miles) off the east coast of Canada.
OceanGate last tweeted about this year’s expedition on Friday, saying it had been “an incredibly busy two weeks”.
A few days earlier, on Wednesday, it also said on Twitter that its crew was relying on the Starlink satellite network to provide communications in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
“After the successful expeditions to the wreck in 2021 and 2022, OceanGate Expeditions will continue to return annually to further document the Titanic and its rate of decay,” the company says on its website.
Chief Mi’sel Joe, head of the Mi’kmaq band that owns the ship from which the missing vessel was launched, told CBC News that it was reported missing after it was a few hours overdue on Sunday evening.
“Your mind wanders to what could have happened, but we just don’t know,” Chief Joe told the Canadian public broadcaster. “We just pray that everyone is OK.”
The Canadian Coast Guard said it is taking part in the search effort with a fixed wing plane and a ship sent to the search area. The US Coast Guard in Boston did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s multiple email and phone requests for comment on the operation.
