Titan: The submersible vessel that goes missing with five onboard while searching Titanic

A submersible vessel taking wealthy tourists to visit the site of the Titanic wreckage in deep waters off the coast of Canada went missing on Sunday and remained untraced the third day even as US and Canadian ships and planes swept a huge area trying to find the vessel.

One pilot and four passengers were on board the submersible, the US Coast Guard told news agency Reuters

The vessel could stay underwater for up to 96 hours, although it was unclear if it had resurfaced but was unable to communicate.

Costly affair

Those aboard the submersible called Titan, the highlight of a tourist expedition that costs $250,000 per person, included British billionaire Hamish Harding and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood with his son Suleman.

The 77-year-old French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, founder and CEO of the vessel's US-based operating company OceanGate, were also reported to be on board.

The expedition

The expeditions to the Titanic start in St. John's, Newfoundland, before heading out about 400 miles (640 km) into the Atlantic to the wreckage site, OceanGate's website says.

The latest expedition, which seems to have gone wrong, was the first in 2023 and likely to be the only one for the year because of weather conditions.

Rescue operation

US and Canadian ships and planes began swarming the area on Monday about 900 miles (1,450 km) east of Cape Cod, some dropping sonar buoys that can monitor to a depth of 13,000 feet (3,962 metres).

111 years ago

The wreckage of the Titanic that sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg lies at about 12,500 feet (3,810 metres).

The British passenger ship sank on its maiden voyage, killing more than 1,500 people, a tragedy that has been immortalised in books and films.

The Titan submersible usually takes two hours to descend to the wreck.