Searches are underway in the North Atlantic Ocean to find a small vessel with five people on board which was traveling to the wreck of the Titanic, small tourist submarine called Titan which has been missing since Sunday (18/06) and was carrying a group of five people who would have visited the wreck of the ship Titanic.
The Titanic expedition began on Friday, departing from the city of São João da Terra Nova, Canada, aboard the icebreaker Polar Prince. Last Sunday the Polar Prince reached the area where the Titanic sank, about 600 kilometers off the Canadian coast. The dive started shortly after, at 6am (local time).
Searches are underway both on the surface, in case the submarine has returned, and with sonar to try to locate the ship underwater. For this purpose, three Hercules C-130 aircraft, a P8 aircraft equipped with sonar, the Canadian icebreaker Kopit Hopson 1752 and a submarine are used.
“It is challenging to conduct a search in this remote area,” said U.S. Coast Guard Commander Rear Admiral John Mauger.
The searches are taking place in an area about 1,450 kilometers east of Cape Cod, in the United States, and at a depth of about 4,000 meters, Mauger explained. “We are using all means available to make sure we are able to locate the vessel and rescue the people on board,” she said.
When and where did the submarine disappear?
The submarine Titan submerged on the morning of Sunday, June 18, and its surface support vessel, the icebreaker Polar Prince, lost contact with it about an hour and 45 minutes later, according to the US Coast Guard.
The submarine was reported missing about 700 kilometers south of the city of São João da Terra Nova, capital of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, according to Canadian authorities, in the area where the Titanic sank in 1912.
Who’s on board?
The U.S. Coast Guard said a pilot and four other people were aboard the submarine. At least three of them are tourists who paid for the trip, organized by the OceanGate company, which chartered the Polar Prince for the Titan launch.
Among the tourists is billionaire British businessman Hamish Harding, 58, according to Action Aviation, which Harding chairs.
Harding is an explorer and adventurer who holds three Guinness World Records. Action Aviation is a private jet sales company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Also on board are Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, according to a family statement.
Dawood is the vice president of one of Pakistan’s largest conglomerates, Engro Corporation, which has investments in fertilizers, vehicle manufacturing, energy and digital technologies. He lives in the UK with his wife and two children.
The identity of the other two people on board has not yet been confirmed, but according to the British broadcaster BBC, there are rumors that they are the French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 73, and Stockton Rush, president of OceanGate.
On Saturday, Harding posted the following message to his Instagram account: “The submarine’s crew are some legendary explorers, some of whom have completed more than 30 dives on the Titanic since the 1980s.”
What kind of submarine is the Titan?
The Titan is capable of diving to a depth of 4,000 meters with a “comfortable margin of safety,” according to a description by OceanGate. It is made of carbon fiber and titanium.
According to the company, the Titan has already carried out more than 50 dive tests, including to a depth equivalent to that of the wreck of the Titanic.
The Titan, which weighs 10 tons and is 6.7 meters long, has an oxygen autonomy of up to 96 hours, according to the company. The submarine can accommodate five people, including a pilot.
Travels at a speed of 3 knots. The knot is a unit of speed measurement equivalent to one nautical mile per hour, or 1.852 km/h.
What is Titanic sightseeing?
OceanGate Expeditions, which recently confirmed on its social media that one of its expeditions was underway, charges its customers up to $250,000 (about R$1.1 million) for an eight-day, seven-night expedition that includes a seat aboard your submarine to see the famous shipwreck.
The dive to the wreck, including the return trip, takes approximately eight hours. The remains of the Titanic lie at a depth of 3,800 meters.
OceanGate says each dive also aims to study the wreck of the Titanic, which is decomposing due to the action of iron-consuming bacteria.
The maiden dive took place in 2021. The missing expedition was the third made this year.
The remains of the Titanic have been attracting tourists for decades. There are several companies that organize multi-day trips to the site where the remains of the ship are located, which was once defined as unsinkable.
the titanic myth
On April 14, 1912, the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg. The wreck of her was found only in 1985 by the American Robert Ballard.
Two years later, the Titanic Ventures company collected more than 1,800 items from the liner. The images of cutlery, precious jewels, ship’s ornaments and the remains of passengers have piqued the curiosity of millions, especially collectors.
In 1997, director James Cameron recreated the sinking of the Titanic in a film that became one of the highest-grossing films in cinematic history and won eight Academy Awards.
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
