Submarine on trip to explore Titanic wreck goes missing, "search and rescue operation" underway

A search and rescue mission was underway Monday for a submarine that went missing in the North Atlantic on an expedition to explore the wreckage of the Titanic. Lt. Jordan Hart of the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston first confirmed to CBS News that personnel were "currently undergoing a search and rescue operation" when asked about the rescue efforts off the coast of Newfoundland. 

At a news conference Monday afternoon, Rear Admiral John Mauger confirmed that five people were on board.

The vessel submerged on a dive Sunday morning, and the crew of the Polar Prince — the ship that ferried the submersible and expedition members to the dive site — "lost contact with them approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes into the vessel's dive," the Coast Guard said in a tweet. 

OceanGate Expeditions, a company that deploys manned submersibles for deep sea expeditions, confirmed in a statement that its sub was the subject of the rescue operation, adding that it was "exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely."

File photo of OceanGate Explorations' submersible being towed in open water. Reuters

The company did not say how many people were on board the missing vessel or whether any of them were paying tourists, whom it does take as passengers on its expeditions. 

"Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families," said OceanGate, adding that it was "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." 

The U.S. Coast Guard said it had a C-130 crew searching for the sub approximately 900 miles off Cape Cod, and that the Rescue Coordination Center Halifax is assisting with a P8 Poseidon aircraft, which has underwater detection capabilities. Aircraft are searching from above while vessels also search on the water, Mauger said at the briefing. Sonar buoys have been deployed in the water in an attempt to listen for the missing sub.

"It is a remote area and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area, but we are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board," Mauger said. 

The Coast Guard is also working with military and civilian partners to develop a rescue plan if the vessel is located underwater, Mauger said. The sub has a 96-hour sustainment capability if there's an emergency on board.

Asked about the emergency oxygen supply, Mauger said, "We anticipate that there are somewhere between 70 to the full 96 hours available at this point."

The Coast Guard first alerted mariners Sunday night that a "21 foot submarine" with a white hull was overdue, giving its last known position. "VESSELS IN VICINITY REQUESTED TO KEEP A SHARP LOOKOUT, ASSIST IF POSSIBLE," the message said.

A map shows the point where the RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic, on April 15, 1912, about 380 miles southeast of the Newfoundland, Canada coast and some 1,300 miles east of its destination in New York City. Getty/iStockphoto

Contacted by CBS News, the Canadian Coast Guard said the rescue operation was being managed by the Boston Regional Coordination Center, and a map showing jurisdictions for the various coastal search and rescue agencies off the North American coast shows the location of the Titanic wreck within the Boston center's area of responsibility.  

OceanGate recently said on its website and social media feeds that an expedition to the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, which lies about 400 miles southeast of the Newfoundland coast, was "underway." 

Earlier this month, OceanGate said on Twitter that it was using satellite company Starlink to help maintain communications with its expedition to the Titanic.

"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," the tweet said. The company's website advertises seven-night voyages to see the Titanic wreckage priced at $250,000.

The company last tweeted about the Titanic expedition on June 15.

On Saturday, British businessman Hamish Harding shared on Facebook that he was among the group on the OceanGate expedition that had departed from St. Johns, Newfoundland, the day before. "The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s," Harding wrote. He said it was "likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023" due to weather conditions, and that the team planned to start dive operations at around 4 a.m. Sunday.

Harding's company, Action Aviation, later confirmed that he was one of the tourists on board, The Associated Press reported. Harding, a veteran adventure tourist, had traveled to space aboard a Blue Origin rocket last year.

"There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board for survival in this event," the company's managing director, Mark Butler, told the AP. "We're all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound."

Diver and explorer Rory Golden also posted about being on the Titanic expedition. In a Facebook post Monday afternoon, he wrote: "I'm OK. We are all focussed on board here for our friends."

He continued: "We have a situation that is now the part of a major Search and Rescue effort, being undertaken by major agencies. That is where our focus is right now. 

"The reaction and offers of help globally is truly astonishing, and only goes to show the real goodness in people at a time like this." 

OceanGate's submersible, The Titan, is the only five-person sub in the world capable of reaching the Titanic wreck, which sits 2.4 miles below the sea surface. CBS News "Sunday Mornings" correspondent David Pogue joined the crew of the vessel, along with a small group of intrepid tourists, for a journey to see the world's most famous shipwreck last year.  

As he got situated in the vessel, which he said had about as much room inside as a minivan, Pogue said he "couldn't help noticing how many pieces of this sub seemed improvised, with off-the-shelf components," including a video game controller that was used to pilot the sub.

Miles Doran contributed reporting. 

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First published on June 19, 2023 / 10:17 AM

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