Search-and-rescue operations underway for missing Titanic tourist submarine
A small submarine that takes people to the wreckage of the Titanic has gone missing.
The U.S. Coast Guard in Boston said Monday that a search and rescue operation is underway in the area around the famous sunken ship in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The missing submarine is owned and operated by OceanGate Expeditions, which confirmed in a statement that there were people on board the missing vessel. It’s unclear how many people were aboard the submarine when it vanished.
“We are exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely,” the company said Monday. “Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families.”
OceanGate offers eight-day expeditions to the remains of the Titanic, which sits about 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, and roughly 2.5 miles below the surface. The company said that an expedition was currently in progress on Friday.
It costs passengers about $250,000 for the whole trip. The visit to the Titanic site and back up the surface takes about eight hours total inside the five-person mini-submarine.
The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, when it struck an iceberg during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. More than 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers and crew members died in the maritime disaster.
