The Coast Guard is helping out with the search for a missing tour sub which disappeared on its way down to explore the wreck of the Titanic. Reports just-in reveal that one of the passengers was “Dubai-based billionaire” Hamish Harding.
Sub missing on Titanic dive
A sub went missing on its way to visit the wreck of the Titanic and the coastguard notes a search operation is underway. The latest update adds that “Dubai-based explorer and businessman Hamish Harding has been identified as one of the missing people on the deep-dive underwater vessel.”
Weather may have been a factor, based on a tweet Harding posted Sunday.
The tourist sub was “on a dive mission to explore the wreck of the historic ship.” There isn’t much information available as to what happened. All that’s known right now is that the submarine was “reported missing and a search operation is underway,” according to the Boston coastguard.
3 tugs seem headed to site of Titanic wreck, where a small submersible that takes paying tourists to view wreck has gone missing
AIS shows 3 tugs left 🇨🇦port St Johns, listing destination as Titanic wreck site & SAR.
3 vessels are Polar Prince, Kopit Hobson 1752, Horizon Arctic pic.twitter.com/TSO45EplMZ— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) June 19, 2023
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, also confirmed that “a Canadian military aircraft and a Canadian Coast Guard vessel are assisting the search.” Aviation mogul Hamish Harding was excited about the opportunity.
He posted on social media that “I am proud to finally announce that I joined @oceangateexped for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic.” He thought the plan would be scrubbed at the last minute.
“Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.”
$250,000-a-seat tour
People have been fascinated by the Titanic ever since the “unsinkable” ship sank on it’s maiden voyage. It hit an iceberg and went down to the bottom of the Atlantic in 1912.
For $250,000-a-seat, Tour firm OceanGate will take you down 12,500 feet to get a good look around the wreck. It seems from initial reports that the sub managed to make it all the way down to start exploring. That’s when they lost contact.
OceanGate issued a statement noting “our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families.” Five were believed to be on board the sub in total.
A Titanic tourist submarine has gone missing and a rescue operation is underway.
The submarine, which can hold up to five people, tours the wreckage of the Titanic for $250,000 per person. pic.twitter.com/6Mc0RCEP1m
— Pop Base (@PopBase) June 19, 2023
“We are 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.”
This is obviously a race against time to locate and rescue the missing explorers. Naval experts note the Titanic wreckage is in such a position that they’re in for a “difficult” recovery mission.
The sub “could have become entangled in the wreckage of Titanic, we don’t know yet. The wreck site is a long way from anywhere,” former Rear Admiral Chris Parry explains. “The only hope one has is that the mothership will have a standby craft that can investigate immediately what is going on.“
