Tourist submarine lost at Titanic

 

Several on board the missing tourist submarine

 

Daniel Nilsson 

 

Updated 21:18 |  

Published at 3:58 p.m  

 

A submarine heading down to the wreck of the Titanic has disappeared in the Atlantic.  

 

The submarine is usually used for tourists.  

 

According to a spokesperson for the Boston Coast Guard, five people should be on board, the Guardian reports.  

 

A major search and rescue operation has been launched to look for the submarine that disappeared in the Atlantic, the coast guard told the BBC. 

 

A Boston Coast Guard spokesman confirmed to the Guardian that "a small submarine with five people on board had gone missing in the vicinity of the Titanic wreck".  

 

OceanGate Expeditions, a private company that organizes deep-sea expeditions, has confirmed in a statement that they own the missing submarine and that there were people on board, writes the BBC.  

 

- Our entire focus is on the crew members of the submarine and their families. We are working to ensure the crew members can return safely, a spokesperson for the company told the BBC.  

 

The submarine is usually used to take tourists down to a depth of 3,810 meters to see the world-famous wreck. It is located about 600 kilometers off the coast of Canadian Newfoundland.  

 

According to OceanGate Expeditions, the submarine seats five people which usually includes a pilot, three guests and a "content expert".  

 

British billionaire on board  

 

British billionaire and adventurer Hamish Harding, 59, has been confirmed by his family to be one of the passengers in the missing submarine, writes Sky News.

 

Hamish Harding is the founder of an international airline sales and operations and investment firm based in the United Arab Emirates.  

 

Harding himself has written on his social media about how he was going to conduct a diving attempt on Sunday together with "legendary adventurers" aboard the submarine from OceanGate Expeditions and that the weather conditions were bad before the trip began.  

 

In the past, Harding has, among other things, dived down to the lowest point of the Mariana Trench and last year he was one of the passengers on board the space shuttle "New Shepard" together with, among others, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.  

 

Since 2019, he also holds a world record for fastest flight around the world with an airplane.  

 

Attracted many tourists  

 

The Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage between Southampton and New York in April 1912. Over 1,500 people died.  

 

Since the wreck was discovered in 1985, it has been investigated by a number of divers. It has also become a popular tourist destination. Visitors can pay to take small submarines down to the wreck. 

 

Last year, a group of tourists paid 250,000 dollars, close to 2.7 million kroner, to see the Titanic.  

Wreck of the Titanic. Photo: Ralph White/AP