The tourist vessel that went missing on its way to the Titanic wreckage is a submersible, not a submarine — and the difference is key to why it has disappeared.
A submersible, unlike a submarine, doesn’t have enough power to launch itself into the ocean and return on its own, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explains on its website.
Instead, a submersible relies on a support ship to launch it and recover it.
The procedure is similar to a boat that takes scuba divers out to sea with their gear, allowing them to jump for their underwater adventure and then climb back onboard for the trip back to shore.
OceanGate Expeditions’ Titan — a Cyclops-class submersible designed to carry five people to depths of up to 13,123 feet — uses the Polar Prince, a former Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker, as its support ship.
But the Titan lost contact with the Polar Prince 1 hour 45 minutes into its dive on Sunday afternoon, according to the US Coast Guard, leaving it missing in the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean.
Nuclear submarines can remain underwater for months, however, David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate, told The Associated Press on Monday that the Titan had a 96-hour oxygen supply.
The submersible’s dives to the Titanic wreckage usually last about 10 to 11 hours.
Tourist submarine exploring Titanic wreckage disappears in Atlantic Ocean
What we know
A submarine on a pricey tourist expedition to the Titanic shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean has vanished with likely only four days’ worth of oxygen. The US Coast Guard said the small submarine began its journey underwater with five passengers Sunday morning, and the Canadian research vessel that it was working with lost contact with the crew about an hour and 45 minutes into the dive.
Who is on board?
The family of world explorer Hamish Harding confirmed on Facebook that he was among the five traveling in the missing submarine. Harding, a British businessman who previously paid for a space ride aboard the Blue Origin rocket last year, shared a photo of himself on Sunday signing a banner for OceanGate’s latest voyage to the shipwreck.
What’s next?
“We’re doing everything we can do to locate the submersible and rescue those on board,” Rear Adm. John Mauger told reporters. “In terms of the hours, we understood that was 96 hours of emergency capability from the operator, and so we anticipate that there’s somewhere between 70 to the full 96 hours available at this point.”
Mauger, first district commander and leader of the search-and-rescue mission, said the US was coordinating with Canada on the operation.
What is it?
Operated by OceanGate Expeditions, the submarine, known as the Titan submersible, holds up to five people. Since 2019, the company has offered tourists the chance to explore the Titanic’s wreckage more than 2 miles below the ocean’s surface off the coast of Canada — at $250,000 per ticket. The Titan usually operates with one chief pilot, three crew members, and then the tourists who pay for the daredevil adventure.
One pilot and four tourists are trapped on board, including a British billionaire and one of Pakistan’s wealthiest men and his 19-year-old son.
Hamish Harding, a successful British businessman, was confirmed to be one of the trapped tourists, according to Action Aviation, a company for which Harding serves as chairman.
Harding is also an adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel.
Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, members of one of Pakistan’s most prominent families, were also on board, according to a family statement sent to the Associated Press.
This was OceanGate Expeditions’ third annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of Titanic since 2021.
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