The search continues for the missing submersible, Titan, which vanished on its way to explore the wreck of the Titanic on Sunday 18th June. The vessel, which was operated by US firm Ocean Gate, had five members on board and was expected to take two and a half hours, but lost signal after just an hour and 45 minutes. Despite past search efforts involving aircraft, sonar and remotely operated underwater vehicles, the submersible remains missing. Titan departed with 96 hours of air, which would have been used up on Thursday 22nd June. OceanGate Expeditions operates eight-day trips to the remains of the Titanic at a cost of $250,000 per person.
Currently, the Canadian ship Horizon Arctic has deployed a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to search the sea floor, along with a French robot called Victor 6000. HAMISH Harding, a 58-year-old British billionaire who is the chairman of airplane marketplace Action Aviation and a Guinness World Record holder, was on board. Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, of one of Pakistan’s wealthiest families, were also on board, as was 73-year-old French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, dubbed Mr Titanic, and OceanGate Expeditions founder and CEO Stockton Rush.
The search continues for the missing vessel, while the families of those on board endure an agonizing wait for news.