Coast Guard shares update on 'frantic marine search' underway for missing Titanic tourist submersible
Rachel Lang
Featured Image Credit: OceanGate. AJ Pics / Alamy.
The US Coast Guard has revealed it is doing everything it can to locate the missing Titanic tourist submersible which vanished en route to the wreckage at the bottom of the sea.
Earlier today, the Boston Coastguard confirmed to the BBC that the submersible was the subject of a search and rescue mission.
The Massachusetts-based lifesavers are leading up the search and rescue mission for the missing submersible, despite the excursion having left from Canada.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday (June 19) Rear Admiral John Mauger revealed the US Coast Guard is working 'as hard as possible' to locate the vessel.
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"A frantic marine search is underway for a missing tourist submersible which has not been seen since it launched to take five people to the Titanic wreckage yesterday morning," he said, adding the Coast Guard was notified of its disappearance on Sunday (June 18) afternoon, as per the Daily Mail.
"We're working as hard as possible bringing all assets to bear to try and find the submersible.
"We began immediately to mobilize assets to search both the surface of the water, search from the air, and to detect any vessels under the water as well. We've had a comprehensive search to find these people."
Contact with the submersible was lost about one hour and 45 minutes into the vessel's dive, the BBC reports.
However, the vessel may be hard to find as it vanished in a 'remote area' of the Atlantic Ocean, Mauger claimed.
The depth of the area extends about 13,000 feet.
Mauger added that the US Coast Guard's capabilities are limited to searching the submersible by detecting sounds using sonar technologies.
As the US Coast Guard continue their search, New York Congressman Brandon Williams urged has the Navy to step in.
He called on the US Navy to deploy a nuclear submarine 'to find our civilian friends'.
"Don't wait, get the best sonar operators in the world in a position to help rescue the lost submersible and its crew, while there is still hope," he wrote on Twitter.
There are five seats on the submersible, including a pilot and a ‘content expert’ as well as three paying customers.
One of those paying customers is British billionaire Hamish Harding, according to his stepson.
The dive down to the wreck and back reportedly takes around eight hours.
Tour firm OceanGate said it was exploring all options to get the crew back safely.
The wreck site itself is spread over a relatively small area of the sea floor, some 600 kilometers - around 370 miles - off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
The ship sits on the ocean floor at a depth of around 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) meaning that it is difficult to access, even with incredibly sophisticated submersibles.
The Titanic sank to the bottom of the ocean after hitting an iceberg in April 1912, with around 1,500 people of around 2,200 passengers dying in the cold waters of the North Atlantic.