A tour company that takes tourists on expeditions to see the Titanic wreck in the Atlantic has spoken out about the submersible that went missing Monday.
OceanGate Expeditions confirmed to CBS News that its submersible is the subject of a search and rescue mission.
Rear Admiral John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, confirmed during a Monday afternoon press conference that a search for the five people on the sub was underway. Mauger said the Coast Guard was first notified of the missing submersible on Sunday morning when the Canadian research vessel lost contact with the sub during a dive off the coast of Cape Cod. The missing vessel is capable of sustaining itself for 96 hours, according to the Coast Guard.
The Marine Traffic website has reported that three tugboats from a port in St. John's, Newfoundland, were headed to the Titanic site, which is about 370 miles off the Canadian coast. The Canadian Coast Guard referred Newsweek to the USGC's Boston Rescue Coordination Center for comment.
"Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families," OceanGate said Monday. It 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 reestablish contact with the submersible."
The company offers tourists the opportunity to "become one of the few to see the Titanic with your own eyes" on an eight-day excursion priced at $250,000, according to its website.
The company had planned an expedition to the wreck from June 12 to June 30, with six people scheduled to depart and return to St. John's. It has not said how many people were on board the missing vessel.
Newsweek reached out to OceanGate for comment.
The Titanic was the world's largest ship when it sank on April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg during its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City. Of the roughly 2,200 passengers and crew members on board, more than 1,500 died.
The passenger liner, which wasn't discovered until 1985, lies in two parts at 12,500 feet below sea level. Last month, the first full-sized digital scan of the wreck provided viewers with a 3D view of the ship using deep-sea mapping.
Speaking to Frommers in 2020, OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush said that half of his customers are Titanic obsessives and the other half were "the same types of travelers drawn to space tourism and similar far-flung, budget-busting adventures."
During the eight-day voyage, guests can spend a day exploring the wreck site from the submersible. There are "rare, close-up views, through a round window and high-tech cameras, of the sunken ship, the hundreds of marine species that now live on the hull, and the debris field strewn with the Titanic's fixtures and its passengers' personal items," Frommers' report said.
Update 6/20/23, 9:29 a.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Mauger.
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Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
