Search efforts continue for a missing submersible in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Five people embarked on an expedition to tour the wreckage of the Titanic on Sunday. But the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince lost contact with the 21-foot submersible known as Titan after one hour and 45 minutes.
A US Coast Guard official said Tuesday afternoon that Titan has about 40 hours of oxygen left, meaning the supply could run out early Thursday morning.
As the search continues, here’s what you need to know about the company that launched the expedition, OceanGate Inc.
WHAT IS OCEAN ATE?
According to your website, OceanGate focuses on “increasing access to the ocean depths through the innovation of the next generation of manned submersibles and launch platforms.” The company uses its three five-man submersibles for site survey, scientific research, film production and scouting trips.
OceanGate says it has completed more than 14 expeditions and more than 200 deep dives in the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico. Monterey Bay, Miami and Seattle are among the previous expedition sites.
WHO FOUNDED OCEANGATE?
CEO Stockton Rush, who is piloting the missing submersible, founded OceanGate in 2009. The company is headquartered in Everett, Washington.
HOW MANY TIMES HAS OCEANGATE BEEN ON THE TITANIC?
This marked OceanGate’s third expedition to the Titanic wreck, having previously gone in 2021 and 2022. A ticket for the 10-day mission, which includes eight days at sea, costs $250,000.
During expeditions, OceanGate says it conducts scientific and technological studies of the Titanic wreck, including collecting images, video and sonar data to study the site and its rate of decay.
“The ocean is taking this away and we need to document it before it disappears or becomes unrecognizable,” Rush told The Associated Press in 2021.
This is the juicy sum paid by the crew members of the expedition aboard the Titan submersible that disappeared in the Atlantic.
WHAT IS A SUBMERSIBLE VS. A SUBMARINE?
A submersible is not the same as a submarine. A submersible is smaller than a submarine and lacks the power to go out and return from expeditions on its own. That’s why he needs the support of a mothership, like Polar Prince.
The Titan submersible can hold five people and travel to depths of 13,123 feet, according to Ocean Gate. It is dubbed as the only submersible that can take five people to those depths of the ocean. The company says the 23,000-pound vessel made of titanium and carbon filament was designed for “deep-water site survey and inspection, research and data collection, film and media production, and hardware and software testing.”
WHO IS ON THE OCEANGATE SUBMERSIBLE?
The four confirmed passengers with Rush are British billionaire Hamish Harding, French diver Paul Henry Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and their son, Suleman. The fifth missing person has yet to be confirmed or identified.
WHERE IS THE TITANIC LOCATED?
The Titanic is located approximately 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. It is also about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
HOW DEEP UNDERWATER IS THE TITANIC?
The wreckage lies 12,500 feet below the ocean’s surface.
Time is running out to find the submersible and its five crew members.
