Missing Titanic tourist submarine - live updates as Oceangate vessel disappears on expedition

Tourists who pay $250,000 to descend almost 13,000 feet below sea level to view the wreck of the Titanic must sign a waiver saying they accept that the submersible is not approved by any regulatory body.

OceanGate Expeditions was founded in 2009 to take wealthy explorers to see the ship, which hit an iceberg and sank in 1912. The wreck was not located until 1985, when it was found 350 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.

Tourists have been visiting it for decades, often in immensely-strong but internally rudimentary submersibles.

Yet those boarding the submersible must sign a waiver which states: 'This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death.'

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The CEO of the missing tourist submersible with five people aboard spoke in an interview last year about his fears regarding the voyage but ultimately insisted his mission was safe.

Stockton Rush, who runs OceanGate Expeditions, is one of a crew of five people including French explorer PH Nargeolet and Harding, 12,500ft underwater as part of its $250,000-a-head Titanic tour yesterday. 

In a longform interview given late last year, Rush repeatedly said that the explorers would be safe and had the oxygen necessary to survive but also did not appear unaware of the risks involved.

'You know, there’s a limit. You know, at some point, safety just is pure waste. I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed,' he said. 

'Don’t get in your car. Don’t do anything. At some point, you’re going to take some risk, and it really is a risk/reward question. I think I can do this just as safely by breaking the rules,' Rush told CBS News.

When asked what he was most worried about, if anything, he brought up the inability to return to surface.

'What I worry about most are things that will stop me from being able to get to the surface,' he said. 

'Overhangs, fish nets, entanglement hazards. And, that’s just a technique, piloting technique. It’s pretty clear - if it’s an overhang, don’t go under it. If there is a net, don’t go near it. So, you can avoid those if you are just slow and steady.'

The missing tourist submersible with five people aboard including British billionaire Hamish Harding is understood to have last 'pinged' while it was directly above it's destination - the Titanic. 

The crew, who launched at around 4am on Sunday but lost communication with the sub's mothership MV Polar Prince an hour and 45 minutes into the two hour descent, has enough oxygen to last underwater until 7 a.m. Thursday.

Missing British billionaire Hamish Harding has a Guinness world record for the longest duration spent at the bottom of the sea.

The London-born adventurer set it in 2021 after diving in a submersible to the deepest place on Earth, the Mariana Trench, and traversing it for four hours 15 minutes.

Before setting off on the Titanic tourist submarine, which is now missing, Mr Harding told his social media followers: 'A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.'

An employee of Harding last night revealed the billionaire had wanted to go on the trip for 'a long time' - adding there is still 'plenty of air' onboard.

For a group of wealthy adventurers, it was the greatest trip that money could buy.

And the thrilling prospect of seeing the Titanic first-hand dispelled any fears they might have had about descending two and a half miles into the icy depths of the Atlantic in a submarine.

The supposedly 'unsinkable' ship, which sank on its maiden voyage in 1912 at a cost of 1,500 lives, has long fascinated explorers.

Missing British billionaire Hamish Harding has a Guinness world record for the longest duration spent at the bottom of the sea.

The London-born adventurer set it in 2021 after diving in a submersible to the deepest place on Earth, the Mariana Trench, and traversing it for four hours 15 minutes.

It was one of three world records the 58-year-old has earned. He set another one for the longest distance – three miles – covered at the bottom of the ocean. His first was set in 2019, for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth via North and South Poles in a Gulfstream 650ER business jet. And last year he went into space.

As the frantic search for the Titanic submersible was under way yesterday, family members asked for prayers for Harding.

The aviator, businessman and explorer is no stranger to perilous expeditions. He told an interviewer in 2021 how his submarine, Challenger Deep, sustained a damaged thruster during his journey to the ‘truly spectacular’ Mariana Trench, which lies seven miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

Any successful rescue efforts in the attempt to recover the mission to the site of the Titanic's wreckage would be historic.

If the crew can be found, this operation would be 11,000ft deeper than the deepest successful submarine rescue in history - when Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman survived their submersible Pisces III getting trapped on the seabed at a depth of 1,575ft off Ireland in 1973. 

In a press conference on Monday, the Coast Guard refused to comment on whether any manned vessel was capable of reaching 12,500ft but it did confirm that sub-surface assistance was on its way.

David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate who had actually planned to be on the expedition, said that officials are working to get a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that can reach a depth of 20,000ft to the site as soon as possible.  

ROVs are robots which function underwater on behalf of a crew on the surface. They are fitted with at least aquatic thrusters, cameras and lights and may also have mechanical manipulators, sonar and magnetometers.

The British billionaire explorer missing during the mission to the site of the Titanic's wreckage is a member of a New York City-based explorers club.

Hamish Harding, 58, is part of the crew on board the vessel which is believed to have embarked on its journey from Newfoundland, in Canada, at 4am on Sunday. A frantic search and rescue mission is now underway to locate and recover the craft.

The Explorers Club's President Richard Garriott de Cayeaux posted an open letter to Facebook Monday, writing that Harding's 'excitement about the expedition was palpable. I know he was looking forward to conducting research at the site.'

'We all join the fervent hope that the submersible is located as quickly as possible and the crew is safe,' Garriott de Cayeaux added.

Harding, who also recently traveled to space in a Blue Origin craft, said in an Instagram post on Saturday that he would be part of the Titanic mission. 

A NASA astronaut raved about his journey to view the Titanic wreckage in a video that was posted just two months before a tourist submarine went missing.

Dr. Scott Parazynski, who has been to space multiple times and has summited Mt Everest, joined the Titanic Survey Expedition in 2021.

'It's tougher to go to the bottom of the ocean than it is to the far side of the moon,' Parazynski said. 'We saw thing that maybe human eyes have never seen before.'

New York Congressman Brandon Williams urged the Navy on Monday to deploy a nuclear submarine 'to find our civilian friends.

'Don't wait, get the best sonar operators in the world in a position to help rescue the lost submersible and its crew, while there is still hope,' he tweeted.

At the news conference on Monday, Rear Adm. John W Mauger said the US Coast Guard is working 'as hard as possible' to find it while 'lives are at risk'.

'We're working as hard as possible bringing all assets to bear to try and find the submersible. We were notified yesterday afternoon.

'We began immediately to mobilize assets to search both the surface of the water, search from the air, and to detect any vessels under the water as well. We've had a comprehensive search to find these people.

'A frantic marine search is underway for a missing tourist submersible which has not been seen since it launched to take five people to the Titanic wreckage yesterday morning.'

DailyMail.com photographers caught Coast Guardsmen off the coast of Boston as the search efforts continue for the missing submersible

Rear Adm. John Mauger said at a news conference that the missing submersible went missing in a 'remote area' of the Atlantic Ocean.

The depth of the area extends about 13,000 feet, and aircrafts have been deployed to search the surface area.

But, he noted, right now the Coast Guard's capabilities are limited to searching for sounds using sonar technologies.

Rear Admiral John Mauger announced at a news conference that the Coast Guard was first notified about the missing submersible Sunday afternoon.

The ship went missing at around 4am that day.

Dives can last up to 10 hours each, with participants spending a total of 10 days at sea onboard a larger ship.

In an interview last year, the company's CEO Stockton Rush told CBC that their subs had capacity for five people and can go to the depths of the Titanic – which is half the depth of the ocean.

He said: 'There's no switches and things to bump into, we have one button to turn it on.

'Everything else is done with touch screens and computers, and so you really become part of the vehicle and everybody gets to know everyone pretty well.'

The 2023 expeditions are only the third the company has carried out in the Titan, with the sub making ten dives to the wreckage in 2022 over several weeks.

It is unclear exactly how many have been completed in total by the Titan, but it is understood that this trip is not the first this year.

The missing tourist submersible with five people onboard including British billionaire Hamish Harding has been missing since yesterday afternoon, and may have become stuck in the wreckage of the Titanic that it was diving to admire. 

The sub, owned and operated by OceanGate Expeditions, was taking a crew of five people including company CEO Stockton Rush, French explorer PH Nargeolet and Harding 12,500ft underwater as part of its $250,000-a-head Titanic tour. 

The crew launched at around 4am yesterday but lost communication with the mothership a short while afterwards. According to OceanGate's website, the sub can last for up to 96 hours underwater with five people consuming oxygen. 

In a statement on Twitter, OceanGate thanked the government for its efforts in searching for the missing submarine.

'We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely,' it said, adding: 'Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families.

'We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible.

'We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers.'

The US Coast Guard is planning to hold a news conference at 4.30pm EST about the search operations.

A British billionaire explorer is one of five people on board a submersible which has gone missing during a mission to the site of the Titanic's wreckage.

Hamish Harding, 58, is part of the crew on board the vessel which is believed to have embarked on its journey from Newfoundland, in Canada, at 4am on Sunday. A frantic search and rescue mission is now underway to locate and recover the craft.

Harding, who also recently traveled to space in a Blue Origin craft, said in an Instagram post on Saturday that he would be part of the Titanic mission. 

The Titanic exhibit, RMS Titanic, Inc., shared its support for the missing submarine crew.

'RMS Titanic, Inc. sends our heartfelt support to the Boston Coast Guard during their search and rescue mission for the submersible reported missing from Oceangate's current expedition to the TITANIC wreck site.

'We send our thoughts and prayers for the safe return of all on board.'

The RMS Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, in the North Atlantic Ocean after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.

The deteriorating ship remains on the ocean floor nearly 13,000 feet below the surface off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

More than 1,500 people died when the ship, which was carrying 2,224 passengers and crew, sank under the command of Captain Edward Smith.

The missing submersible which vanished with five people on board while taking a trip to view the Titanic wreckage is controlled by a PlayStation controller and has one window for explorers to peer out of.

Authorities are currently searching for OceanGate’s 22ft carbon fiber and titanium vessel called the Titan after it vanished on Sunday.

On Twitter, David Pogue shared his experience on the OceanGate vessel.

He said while he was onboard, 'communication somehow broke down' and the submersible was briefly lost for a few hours.

Naval experts say the wreckage is in such a position that it will be a 'difficult' recovery mission. 

'It's very worrying. It could have become entangled in the wreckage of Titanic, we don't know yet. The wreck site is a long way from anywhere.

'The only hope one has is that the mothership will have a standby craft that can investigate immediately what is going on,' Former Rear Admiral Chris Parry said during an appearance on Sky News.

According to OceanGate's website, the submarine has an early warning system.

It has sensors and strain gauges to analyze the effects of changing pressure on the vessel as it dives in order to assess the integrity of the vehicle.

'This onboard health analysis monitoring system provides early warning detection for the pilot with enough time to arrest the descent and safely return to surface,' the company's website says.

According to OceanGate's online materials, the Titan can operate safely for up to 96 hours with a crew of five onboard. 

It left for its destination at around 4am, giving the passengers 72 hours of air left.

Among those taking part in the expedition is billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. 

He excitedly posted to social media about being there, writing: 'I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic.'

A tourist submersible taking wealthy explorers to look at the Titanic wreckage for as much as $250,000 a ticket has gone missing with five people onboard. 

The Boston Coastguard and Canadian Coastguard are both now looking for the missing vessel that is operated by tour company OceanGate Expeditions.

The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft- 2.5 miles - underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada. 

OceanGate Expeditions is thought to be the only company that offers the tours.