A search team was launched Sunday after a submersible with five people aboard went missing during a tour of the Titanic wreckage off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
The 21-foot watercraft, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, is believed to have submerged more than 12,500 feet below the Atlantic Ocean after the vessel, named Titan, lost contact within an hour and 45 minutes of the tour.
ABC News identified the four people aboard as British businessman and billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, French diver and Titanic expert Henri Nargeolet, 77, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman Dawood, 19, and an unidentified pilot and space tourist.
According to reports, the group reportedly paid $250,000 per person for the excursion.
Rescuers hope to find the group since the deep-sea vessel had around 96 hours of oxygen supply. Per Wimmer, an explorer and financier, told the outlet, “It was a race against time” due to the limited supply of air aboard.
He said if the search team cannot locate the submersible in time, the group could starve of oxygen. However, Wimmer remains hopeful the watercraft’s “safety mechanism” will be activated. If that happens, the vessel can slowly float to the surface, and the group would be able to get out.
“That is the only hope we have, because you do not have enough time to get another submersible that can go that deep,” he added.
Here’s what to know about the submersible and its capacity to reach shallow waters within the Atlantic Ocean.
According to the Daily Mail, a submersible is a watercraft designed to operate underwater. While it may be similar to a submarine, there are significant differences between the two water vessels: A submarine can function independently with its air renewal system, while the submersible relies on a nearby surface vessel or shore team to ensure it operates correctly.
Submersibles can be used for underwater archeology, tourism, exploration and adventure travel. Most submersibles can submerge around 10 km (6.2 miles) below the water’s surface.
While different submersibles exist, they have the same technology, including buoyancy control and wet subs, which contains breathing equipment if the vessel floods with water, per the Daily Mail.
