A British billionaire and explorer, along with four others are presumed dead after they were reported missing when a submersible deep-sea vessel touring the Titanic wreckage failed to resurface Sunday night, June 18, off the coast of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.
The privately-operated Oceangate Expeditions vessel, named “the Titan,” was lost at a depth of 12,500 feet and assumed to have been destroyed.
The final text sent by passenger Hamish Harding, 58, indicated that the weather had been unfavorable at the beginning of the trip but was set to improve. He sent the text to his friend, retired NASA astronaut Col. Terry Virts, who later shared it with ITV’s “Good Morning.” Virts mentioned that Harding was well aware of the risks involved in the deep-sea expedition.
Also aboard the vessel were Shahzada Dawood, one of Pakistan’s wealthiest men, his son Sulaiman Dawood, and French navy diver P.H. Nargeolet. The identity of the fifth person remains unknown.
Oceangate Expeditions offers private tours of the Titanic wreck for $250,000 per person. The tours last for eight days, and the vessel requires a support ship for submerging and surfacing.
The U.S. Coast Guard said that there was a 70 to 96-hour window to locate the missing submersible before it ran out of oxygen by Thursday. The search area was located about 900 miles off Cape Cod’s coast and was at an approximate depth of 13,000 feet. The attempted rescue operation involved both aircraft and ships, and efforts were made to bring a remotely operated vehicle capable of reaching 20,000 feet to the search area, according to David Concannon, an adviser to Oceangate.
On Thursday, June 22, debris from the submersible was detected on the ocean floor, near the Titanic ship’s bow.
The landing frame and rear cover of the vessel were found at a depth of 12,500 feet, about 1,600 feet away from the Titanic’s remains. This suggests that the submersible had a crack and imploded under extreme underwater pressure, resulting in the immediate death of all on board.
