US, Canadian Coast Guards Search for Submarine Missing After Visit to Titanic

The US Coast Guard says it has 96 hours to rescue five people on a missing, overdue submarine that visited the wreck of the Titanic on Sunday, June 18th. The submersible had one crew member and 4 passengers, who paid about $250,000 each to visit the world's most famous wreck, to the West of Newfoundland Canada.

"The purpose of the submersible was to study the wreck site," said Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the US First Coast Guard District. He said one could speculate that the submersible had somehow become entangled with the wreck of the Titanic. Among the passengers is British billionaire Hamish Harding, who tweeted about the voyage in advance.

"We want to make sure we have done everything we can do to bring home their family members," said Mauger, declining to say how many times a year people visit the Titanic.

The Titanic ocean liners wreck lies 2.5 miles beneath the surface of the North Atlantic. The submersible had been missing for 24 hours when the search began. All contact was lost 1.5 hours into the dive. The search area is 900 miles off the coast of Massachusetts.

RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making it the deadliest sinking of a single ship up to that time. It remains the deadliest peacetime sinking of an ocean liner or cruise ship. The disaster drew public attention, provided foundational material for the disaster film genre, and has inspired many artistic works.