A submarine used to take tourists to visit the wreck of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean is missing and the Boston Coast Guard has launched a search operation off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The Coast Guard has announced that the submarine, about 6.40 meters long, with 5 people on board submerged on Sunday morning: contacts were interrupted 1h40′ after the start of the mission.
OceanGate Expeditions, a private company that organizes the excursions, has confirmed that it is the owner of the missing submarine. On board there would be the Frenchman Paul Henri Nargeolet, former ship commander, deep-sea diver and submarine pilot, as the Guardian writes. Director of the Underwater Research Group for E/M Group and RMS Titanic Inc, Nargeolet is considered the leading authority on the wreck site and may have been responsible for the missing submarine. Also on board may be British businessman Hamish Harding, known as an aviator and explorer. Harding, who lives in the Emirates, is among those who had booked the trip.
“We are exploring and mobilizing all options to get the crew back to safety. Our attention is directed to the crew members of the submarine and their families,” says the company. “We are deeply grateful for the assistance we have received from some government agencies and companies operating on the high seas in our efforts to restore the contacts with the submarine” which, according to what we read on the company’s website, can reach a depth of up to four thousand meters, with 96 hours of life support for five people. A maximum of five people can travel on board the submarine: the pilot, three paying guests and an ‘expert’.
Excursions to see the wreck of the Titanic cost 250,000 dollars, just under 230,000 euros, and last eight days, “an opportunity to get away from everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary”. According to the company’s website, one excursion is currently underway and two are planned for June of 2024. The descent and ascent from the place where the wreck of the Titanic is located, sunk on the evening of April 14, 1912, usually lasts eight hours.
The wreck lies on the ocean floor at a depth of about 3,800 meters, 600 km from the Canadian coast. The remains of the Titanic were discovered and located in 1985. The ship, the largest in the world at the time, sank in 1912 on her maiden voyage from Southampton and New York. After crashing into an iceberg, the Titanic sank: more than 1,500 of the 2,200 people on board died.
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