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The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a missing Canadian research submersible that disappeared after it went to explore the wreck of the Titanic. According to the Coast Guard, the 21-foot submersible and its five-person crew, from the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince, started a dive on Sunday morning, however; Prince lost contact with the vessel after an hour and 45 minutes.
The missing submersible was part of an OceanGate Expeditions tour exploring the Titanic wreckage, located 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The private company charters trips to explore the wreckage with its research teams. The commander of the Coast Guard district leading the search, Rear Admiral John Mauger, said they received a call for help after the crew lost contact and the submersible missed its return time. He said the Coast Guard immediately launched a surface and aerial search to find or recover the submersible and any survivors; and added that the Coast Guard has brought in technical experts, dropped sonar buoys to listen for underwater noise, and reached out to other government agencies and private contractors for aid and “to really better understand what an undersea search and rescue effort would look like.”
The company said it was working with numerous government agencies to aid in the rescue of the crew on its submersible. OceanGate said in a statement: “Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families, we are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible.”
Coast Guard officials said in a press conference on Monday afternoon that they have deployed two C-130 aircraft for an aerial search, and that the sonar buoys can listen to a depth of 13,000 feet. The New York National Guard is providing a third C-130, and the Canadian Coast Guard provided a C-130 as well as a P8 Poseidon aircraft that has underwater detection capabilities.
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