A search and rescue operation is underway by Canadian and US Coast guard in Atlantic ocean for the missing submersible vessel carrying five people to witness the wreckage of the iconic ocean liner Titanic.
According to the details, the third annual voyage of the undersea exploration company OceanGate Expeditions began on Sunday. The craft submerged Sunday morning, and its support vessel lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later, quoted Coast Guard.
The vessel was reported overdue about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, according to Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate, stated on Monday that the submersible vessel had a 96-hour oxygen supply. He said officials are working to get a remotely operated vehicle that can reach a depth of six kilometers (3.7 miles) to the site as soon as possible.
The five people onboard includes British businessman Hamish Harding, who lives in Dubai, UAE and and adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records. Vice Chairman of Engro corporation Pakistan and a member of board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence., Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, were also on board.
The carbon-fiber submersible named the Titan, part of a mission by OceanGate Expeditions had a 96-hour oxygen supply when it put to sea at roughly 6 a.m. Sunday, according to David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate. Thus every passing minute, however, puts the Titan’s crew at greater risk.
Rear Adm. John Mauger, a commander for the U.S. Coast Guard, which also is searching for the Titan said, “It is a remote area — and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area. We’re working very, very hard to make sure that we bring all assets … to bring leading technical experts to understand what capability is available, what capability we can get to the team.”
The Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, which was supporting the Titan, reportedly lost contact with the vessel about an hour and 45 minutes after it submerged. The Polar Prince was to continue to do surface searches throughout the night and a Canadian Boeing P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft will resume their surface and subsurface search in the morning. Two US C-130 Hercules also have conducted overflights.
The Canadian military also dropped sonar buoys to listen for any possible sounds from the Titan but there haven’t been any trace found of the missing submersible vessel Titan.
