BOSTON: A submersible taking wealthy tourists to visit the site of the Titanic wreckage in deep waters off the coast of Canada was missing for a third day on Tuesday, as US and Canadian ships and planes swept a huge area trying to find the vessel.
One pilot and four passengers were on board the submersible that went missing on Sunday, the US Coast Guard said, adding the vessel could stay underwater for up to 96 hours, although it was unclear if it had resurfaced but was unable to communicate.
Those aboard the submersible called Titan, the highlight of a tourist expedition that costs $250,000 per person, included British billionaire Hamish Harding and Engro Corp. vice chairman Shahzada Dawood with his son Suleman.
In a statement, Engro Corp. said that all it knew was that contact was lost with the submersible craft. “There is limited information available beyond this that we know, and we humbly request that speculation and theorisation is avoided,” the company said.
“We, at Engro, remain in prayer for their swift and safe return, and will share updates we may have as and when they come,” it added.
The 77-year-old French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, founder and CEO of the vessel’s US-based operating company OceanGate, were also reported to be on board.
“We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety,” Dawood’s family said on Tuesday.
US and Canadian ships and planes began swarming the area on Monday about 900 miles (1,450 km) east of Cape Cod, some dropping sonar buoys that can monitor to a depth of 13,000 feet (3,962 metres), US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said.
“We are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board,” he told reporters on Monday. “It is a remote area and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area.”
He said officials had asked commercial vessels to help.
The wreckage of the Titanic that sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg lies at about 12,500 feet (3,810 metres). The Titan submersible usually takes two hours to descend to the wreck.
OceanGate Expeditions, the private company that operates the submersible, said it was “mobilizing all options” to rescue those aboard the Titan.
The US Coast Guard said on Twitter that a boat on the surface – the Polar Prince – lost contact with the submersible about one hour and 45 minutes after it began diving to the site of the Titanic’s wreckage on Sunday.
