The BBC reports that the number of passengers on board the tourist submarine which left to explore the wreck of the Titanic on Monday (June 19) is still unknown. A rescue mission has been launched.
111 years ago the Titanic sank off Newfoundland, Canada. This Monday, June 19, 2023, as a tourist submarine took passengers 3,800 meters to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to observe the remains of the British transatlantic liner, which sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg, the submersible suddenly disappeared, reports the BBC. In contact with the Boston Coast Guard, the news channel says a search and rescue operation has been launched to find the missing submarine and its crew.
Information that seems to be confirmed by the press release from OceanGate Expeditions, which announces that one of its submarines is missing. “We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely,” the statement said. And to add: “We are completely focused on the crew members of the submersible and their families. We are working on the safe return of the crew members.”
While the number of passengers inside the missing submarine is still unknown, the website of the private company OceanGate Expeditions indicates that submersibles which generally go on expeditions for nearly 8 hours carry up to 5 people: a driver, a guide and up to three passengers, who would each pay $250,000 to participate in the expedition. According to the BBC, the missing submarine is the OceanGate Titan. The size of a truck, it would carry, in addition to its five passengers, the equivalent of four days’ worth of oxygen. Enough for help to intervene? Government agencies and companies specializing in the high seas would, in any case, be on deck to find the missing craft, the exact time of which contact with it was broken is unknown.
