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A submarine that takes tourists to see the wreckage of the RMS Titanic has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean, sparking a major search and rescue mission.
The boat's operator OceanGate Expeditions said on Monday that efforts were under way to locate the missing vessel and its crew.
Up to five people are believed to have been on board the submersible, including a UAE-based British businessman and a former French navy commander.
“We are exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely,” a statement from OceanGate read.
“Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families. We are working toward the safe return of the crew members.”
The statement added that it was “deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible.”
A major search and rescue operation, being led by the US Coastguard and involving military aircraft, is currently under way.
In a press conference on Monday, Rear Admiral John W Mauger of the US Coastguard said they were doing “everything” they can to find the submersible. He added that it has one pilot and four mission operators aboard.
He said they were conducting a search 1450km east of Cape Cod in collaboration with the Canadian armed forces and commercial vessels in the area.
“It is a remote area and a challenge but we are deploying all available assets to make sure we can locate the craft and rescue the people on-board,” he said.
He said the submersible vessel has 96 hours of emergency capability, giving a window for rescuers to find the occupants alive.
“We anticipate that there’s somewhere between 70 to the full 96 hours at this point,” he said.
The submersible, which sends signals to its mother ship every 15 minutes, has not been heard from for more than seven hours, according to reports.
One of the people believed to be on the missing submarine is UAE-based British space explorer and businessman Hamish Hardin.
He revealed he was joining OceanGate as a “mission specialist”, and that his vessel was leaving St Johns in Newfoundland on Friday.
His stepson confirmed on Facebook that Mr Harding had “gone missing on submarine” and asked for “thoughts and prayers”, according to Reuters. The stepson subsequently removed his post, citing privacy concerns.
Other crew members feared to be on board the missing sub include former French navy commander PH Nargeolet.
Mr Harding, who is chairman of aircraft leasing company Action Aviation, said the team was planning to start the dive at 4am local time on Sunday.
In a post on Instagram on Saturday night, he said: “A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.
“We started steaming from St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning.
“Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.
“The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet.”
In 2020, OceanGate Expeditions began advertising $125,000 dive trips to the RMS Titanic for “citizen scientists”.
The submersible, named Titan, usually carries a pilot, three paying guests and a 'content expert'. It has enough oxygen for up to 96 hours.
Its dives can last up to 10 hours each, with participants spending a total of 10 days at sea on board a larger ship.
The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, killing more than 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers on board.
The wreck, which was located in 1985, sits 3,800 metres at the bottom of the Atlantic, about 600 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland.
