June 20, 2024. A tourist submarine that takes people to see the wreck of Titanic has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean with the crew on board.
The tour agency OceanGate that runs this mission to see the Titanic which costs about $250,000 per seat said that their main focus is on the safety of their crew. The authorities have launched a search and rescue mission to track the submersible vessel. The agency also added that Government agencies are assisting with the search and rescue.
The missing submarine is said to be the Titan submersible which is about the size of a truck and can accommodate 5 people including the crew and it also has the capacity to carry 4 days’ worth of Oxygen while diving.
Among the missing, there is the French Pilot Paul Henry Nargeolet and the founder of OceanGate Stockton Rush. There is also a 59 years old British Billionaire Businessman Hamish Harding. On the weekend, he wrote on social media that he is going on an expedition to see the wreckage of Titanic. But due to the very bad weather that persists in the region, his mission is likely to be the only mission in this year.
On Sunday, he mentioned on social media that a weather window has opened up and they are going to attempt the mission the following day.
It is yet to be known that when did the agency lose contact with the submarine.
Ocean Gate, the tourist agency takes tourists to see the wreckage of the Titanic which had sunk in 1912 and is situated about 3800 meters under the Atlantic Ocean. The wreckage is more than 600km away from the coast of Newfoundland Canada. The wreckage has been explored many times after its discovery in 1985. According to Ocean Gates website, two more missions have been scheduled for next year.
Titan Submarine
The Submarine Titan is more than 10 tons heavy and it can dive as deep as 4000 meters underwater. The OceanGate agency owns three submarines but only the Titan can reach the depths to view Titanic.
The Titan can carry five people in it at all times. This includes the pilot, three tourists and one content expert (as mentioned by OceanGate).
The trip starts from the coast of Newfoundland of Canada which is about 600km away from the titanic wreckage site. Another vessel is used to take the submarines at the site from the coast of Newfoundland where the submarines make their dive. This vessel named Polar Prince was also used in this mission of Titan, as mentioned by the owners. It takes about 8 hours for the submarine to make the dive to see the wreck and then come back up to the surface.
Titanic sunk by hitting an iceberg on its very first voyage from Southampton to New York in 1912. It was the largest ship of its time. The wreck of the ship is in two parts and is about 800 meters spread from each other.
