Tuesday saw a third day after the disappearance of a submarine carrying wealthy visitors to the Titanic wreck site in deep seas off the coast of Canada. U.S. and Canadian ships and planes combed a wide region in search of the submersible.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, there were one pilot and four passengers on board the submersible that vanished on Sunday. The vessel could stay below for up to 96 hours, but it was unclear if it had resurfaced but was unable to contact.
Rescuers maintained their efforts overnight and were expanding their search into deeper seas, according to U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral John Mauger in televised interviews on Tuesday.
According to him, "as we move forward with this search, we've been working through the night with a large group of partners to bring all skills to bear searching on both the surface and now moving to a subsurface in the area."
British billionaire Hamish Harding and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood with his son Suleman were among those on board the submersible, which was the highlight of a $250,000 per person tourism adventure.
Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a 77-year-old French explorer, and Stockton Rush, the founder and CEO of the vessel's American operating business, OceanGate, were reportedly said to be on board.
The family of Dawood said on Tuesday, "We are very appreciative of the concern being exhibited by our colleagues and friends and would like to beg that everyone pray for their safety."
According to Mauger, American and Canadian ships and aircraft started swarming the area on Monday, around 900 miles (1,450 km) east of Cape Cod. Some of the aircraft dropped sonar buoys that can monitor to a depth of 13,000 feet (3,962 meters).
In order to find the craft and save the people on board, he stated, "We are mobilizing all available resources." It is difficult to conduct a search in that remote area because it is a remote one.
He claimed that authorities had urged commercial vessels to assist.
At 12,500 feet down, the Titanic's debris can be found. The ship sank in 1912 after colliding with an iceberg (3,810 metres). It typically takes the Titan submersible two hours to reach the wreck.
The private business that runs the submersible, OceanGate Expeditions, declared that it was "mobilizing all alternatives" to save everyone on board the Titan.
Mauger stated that OceanGate Expeditions is in charge of the search operations, with Coast Guard resources being sent on the scene.
About NBC, Mauger observed, "They know that place better than anyone else." We're prioritizing our underwater search operations and moving equipment there in close collaboration with them.
When asked if he was hopeful that the tourists would be discovered alive, Mauger replied that personnel were concentrating on locating the passengers and the equipment required to carry out the search.
He also cited privacy concerns in declining to divulge the identities of everyone on board.
The Polar Prince, a surface vessel, lost touch with the submersible approximately an hour and a half after it started its Sunday dive to the Titanic debris, according to the U.S. Coast Guard on Twitter.
According to OceanGate's website, expeditions to the Titanic begin at St. John's, Newfoundland, and then travel around 400 miles (640 km) into the Atlantic to the ship's remains.
Harding, a businessman and explorer who lives in the UAE and serves as the chairman of Action Aviation, wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday that this voyage might be the first and last manned mission to the Titanic in 2023 because of the harshest winter in Newfoundland in 40 years.
We're planning to do a dive tomorrow because a weather window suddenly opened up. Further expedition reports will be sent IF the weather holds, he continued.
In a later Facebook post, Harding's stepson stated that his father had "gone missing on submarine" and requested "thoughts and prayers." Invoking respect for the family's privacy, he later took down the post.
According to Harding's article, the team sailed out to sea on Friday, with the first dive scheduled for Sunday morning.
Dawood, a fellow traveler, is the vice chairman of Engro Corporation, one of Pakistan's major conglomerates with holdings in the production of electricity, vehicles, and fertilizers.
According to the website of SETI, a California-based research organization of which he is a trustee, Dawood resides in London with his wife and two kids.
More than 1,500 people perished when the British passenger ship sank on her first trip; the tragedy was immortalized in books and movies, including the 1997 smash hit Titanic.
