A search operation is currently underway for a deep-sea vessel that has gone missing with five individuals on board. The vessel ventured towards the deteriorating wreckage site of the Titanic, the iconic ocean liner.
Taking the lead in this search effort is the U.S. Coast Guard, focusing their efforts in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is in this remote region where the Titanic tragically collided with an iceberg and sank in 1912, resulting in the loss of nearly 1,500 lives out of the approximately 2,200 passengers and crew.
OceanGate Expeditions organized this expedition, marking their third annual voyage aimed at documenting the progressive decay of the Titanic since 2021. Resting at a depth of approximately 2.4 miles (3.8 kilometers) beneath the surface, the sunken vessel serves as a unique environment for undersea exploration, allowing scientists to observe the development of an underwater ecosystem that has thrived around it over the past century.
Here’s what we currently know:
WHEN AND WHERE DID THE TITAN GO MISSING? The vessel submerged early Sunday morning, and approximately one hour and forty-five minutes later, its support vessel lost communication with it, as reported by the Coast Guard.
According to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the vessel was reported as overdue approximately 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
The Titan was launched from an icebreaker that had been contracted by OceanGate. Previously operated by the Canadian Coast Guard, the icebreaker served as the transportation vessel for numerous individuals and the submersible craft to reach the wreck site in the North Atlantic. Once there, the Titan conducted multiple dives to explore the area.
According to David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate, the submersible had a 96-hour oxygen supply. Efforts are currently underway to deploy a remotely operated vehicle capable of reaching a depth of six kilometers (3.7 miles) to the site as quickly as possible.
As reported by the Coast Guard, the vessel carried one pilot and four individuals referred to as “mission specialists.” These mission specialists are participants who pay to join OceanGate’s expeditions. During the journey, they take turns operating sonar equipment and carrying out various tasks within the five-person submersible.
During the initial tourist trips in 2021, a group of individuals paid a range of $100,000 to $150,000 per person to participate in the expedition. On OceanGate’s website, the “mission support fee” for the 2023 expedition is listed as $250,000 per person.
According to Action Aviation, Hamish Harding, a British businessman residing in Dubai, was one of the mission specialists on board. Harding serves as the chairman of Action Aviation. He is recognized as an adventurer and holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth achieved by a crewed vessel. In March 2021, Harding, along with ocean explorer Victor Vescovo, dived to the deepest point of the Mariana Trench. Additionally, in June 2022, he embarked on a space journey aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.
Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, members of a prominent Pakistani family, were also part of the expedition, as stated in a family statement sent to the AP. Their family firm, named after them, engages in investments within the agriculture, industrial, and healthcare sectors. Shahzada Dawood is also a board member of the California-based SETI Institute, which conducts research in the field of extraterrestrial intelligence.
The deep-sea vessel involved in the expedition, known as the Titan, is documented to be capable of diving up to four kilometers (2.4 miles) with a sufficient safety margin. In documents filed by OceanGate with a U.S. District Court in Virginia overseeing Titanic-related matters in April, the company stated that the Titan possessed an exceptional safety feature that continuously assesses the hull’s integrity during each dive. The court filing mentioned that the Titan had undergone over 50 test dives, including dives to the equivalent depth of the Titanic, conducted in deep waters off the Bahamas and within a pressure chamber.
According to a November court filing, during the 2022 expedition, OceanGate reported that the Titan experienced a battery issue on its first dive and had to be manually attached to its lifting platform.
The primary mission of the Titan and OceanGate’s expeditions has been to document the ongoing deterioration of the Titanic and observe the unique underwater ecosystem that often develops around shipwrecks.
The remnants of the Titanic are gradually being consumed by metal-eating bacteria, resulting in the loss of hundreds of pounds of iron daily. The wreckage exhibits holes, and even the crow’s nest has disappeared. Experts predict that the ship could eventually vanish within a few decades as the hull develops more holes and sections continue to disintegrate.
Equipped with high-definition cameras and multi-beam sonar equipment, the Titan is instrumental in capturing detailed imagery and mapping the decomposition of the wreck. This data not only aids in understanding the fate of other deep-sea wrecks, including those from World Wars, but also provides insights into the unique marine life that thrives around the Titanic. The wreck site is home to hundreds of species that have been observed exclusively in that particular location.
In 2021, Stockton Rush, the president of OceanGate Expeditions, emphasized the importance of documenting the Titanic’s transformation before it completely disappears or becomes unrecognizable, stating that the ocean is reclaiming the wreckage, necessitating its documentation.