OceanGate, a company that takes tourists to visit the wreck of the Titanic, has confirmed that five crewmembers are on-board a submersible that has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean.
In a statement, the company – which can charge tourists as much as $250,000 for a seven-day excursion to the Titanic wreck site – said that it is ‘exploring and mobilising all options’ to get the crew back safely.
The statement reads: “Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families.”
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They added that ‘extensive assistance’ is being provided by ‘several government agencies and deep sea companies’ in order to find the submarine.
“We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers,” the company said.
On the OceanGate website, the trips are advertised as a ‘chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary’.
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There are five seats on the submersible, including a pilot and a ‘content expert’ as well as three paying customers.
The dive down to the wreck and back reportedly takes around eight hours.
Earlier today, 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.
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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.
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.
Interest has rarely waned in the wreck since then, and the wreck site was discovered in 1985 by explorers.
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In the 1990s, interest in the RMS Titanic soared once again after filmmaker and deep sea explorer James Cameron made a blockbuster film about the ship, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
OceanGate recently thanked Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite company for providing the connection between their expedition craft and the submersible.
The company tweeted: "Despite being in the middle of the North Atlantic, we have the internet connection we need to make our Titanic dive operations a success — thank you Starlink.”
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No further information about the missing submersible is available at this time.
Topics: Titanic, US News, World News, Titan submersible
Tom Wood