It is a small tourist submarine used to travel to the area of the sinking of the Titanic. He is missing in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of North America, several media reported Monday, June 19. The U.S. Coast Guard said a search and rescue mission had been launched.
"We are exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely," the company said in a statement to BBC News. "We are fully focused on the crew members of the submersible and their families.
The company is currently conducting its fifth "Titanic mission" of the year, according to its website, which was scheduled to end Thursday. In 2021, OceanGate Expeditions embarked on what was to become an annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of the iconic ocean liner that struck an iceberg and sank in 1912. The Titanic sank in the North Atlantic on the night of April 14-15, 1912 after hitting an iceberg.
The company said at the time that in addition to archaeologists and marine biologists, the expeditions would also include about forty paid tourists who would take turns using sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the five-person submersible.
The expedition, which costs $250,000 per person, begins in St. John's, Newfoundland, before moving into the Atlantic for about 400 miles in the Atlantic to the wreck site, according to OceanGate's website.
The Titanic sank in the North Atlantic on the night of April 14-15, 1912 after hitting an iceberg. Leaving Southampton on April 10, 1912 to reach New York, the Titanic, a gigantic liner, the largest in the world at the time of its launch, was wrecked with 2,224 passengers and crew on board. Nearly 1,500 perished.
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