The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday afternoon said it would send out more more boats and aircraft to search for a tourist submersible that went missing en route to visit the 1912 wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Coast Guard 1st District Cmdr. Rear Adm. John Mauger said crews are searching about 900 miles east of Cape Cod in water depths of about 13,000 feet.
“It is a remote area and it is a challenge to search,” Mauger said during a briefing. “But we are deploying all available assets to make sure we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board.”
The 21-foot sub and its 5-person crew lost contact with a Canadian research ship about two hours into a dive on Sunday. The sub has life support for about 96 hours, officials said.
Coast Guard officials out of Boston are searching along with Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax, operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Coast Guard.
Canada has deployed a P8 Poseidon aircraft it says is capable of detecting objects underwater.
Mauger said officials also deployed sonar buoys to listen for sounds and were looking both on the surface — in case the sub emerged but still lacks communication capabilities — and under the water.
“Our thoughts are with the families and the crew members on board the submersible and we are working very closely with all U.S. and international partners to provide any capability we can provide to search for the overdue vessel and rescue the crew members on board,” Mauger said.
The missing sub is owned by OceanGate, a privately owned U.S. company founded in 2009 that operates submersibles for deep ocean experiences more than 12,000 feet underwater.
OceanGate says on its website that it chartered successful Titanic viewing experiences in 2021 and 2022 and will “continue to return annually to further document the Titanic and its rate of decay.”
The company says only “qualified explorers” can join to see the wreck of the Titanic, which is about 380 nautical miles south of Canada’s Newfoundland.