A submarine which was used to take tourists to the location of the remains of the Titanic disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean this Sunday (18).

The company OceanGate, which conducts expeditions to the wreck of the ship, said in a statement that the missing vessel was theirs.

The remains of the Titanic are located approximately 600 km from the Canadian coast.

The U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards are conducting search and rescue operations. The Canadians said they sent a military plane and a ship to help.

According to the Americans, five passengers were on board the submarine. OceanGate submersible vessels have a capacity of five people.

“We are exploring and mobilizing all options to safely return the crew,” OceanGate said in a statement.

“Our entire focus is on the submersible crew and their families.”

OceanGate charges each passenger US$250,000 for a place on its expedition to view the wreck.

Last week, the company began its fifth “mission” to the wreck of the Titanic, according to the company’s website. The trip was scheduled to end next Thursday.

Identity of one of the passengers

One of the passengers on the tourist submarine is Hamish Harding, co-founder and chairman of Action Aviation, a company specializing in aviation and aerospace services.

Harding’s stepson said on Facebook that his father-in-law had “disappeared in a submarine” and asked for prayers.

Harding himself announced on Facebook on Sunday that he would be on board the submarine. From his text, it appeared that at the beginning the climate was unfavorable for submersion, but that the weather had improved. Since then, there have been no more messages from him.

The trip lasts eight days. To descend to the wreck site, located 3,800 meters deep in the Atlantic Ocean, the submersible takes approximately 2.5 hours.

What is a tourist submarine

The missing ship is called Titan. It is classified as submersible because it is not autonomous (it depends on a support platform to be deployed and returned).

A tourist submarine is a vessel that allows passengers to experience the underwater world without needing to be a diver or undergo specialized training.

They are generally smaller than military submarines.

The Titanic was a transatlantic ship considered the largest and most luxurious passenger ship of its time. Built in the early 20th century by the British company White Star Line, the ship became famous for its sinking.

On April 10, 1912, the ship left the town of Southampton, England, bound for New York, United States.

Four days later, on April 14, the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank. There were not enough lifeboats and more than 1,500 people died.

After this disaster, maritime safety laws and regulations were changed (for example, requiring enough lifeboats for all passengers on board).

The wreck was found in 1985, approximately 650 kilometers from the Canadian coast.