A search-and-rescue mission was underway Monday after a submersible used for tourist expeditions to view the wreck of the Titanic went missing in the North Atlantic, according to media reports.
The BBC reported that the Boston Coast Guard is conducting a search-and-rescue mission for the sub off the coast of Newfoundland, an eastern province in Canada.
The Guardian reported that the Coast Guard confirmed "a small submarine with five people onboard had gone missing in the vicinity of the Titanic wreck." The media outlet reported that the sub is operated by OceanGate Expeditions, a company that offers visits to the Titanic wreck.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, received a call at 9:13 p.m. Sunday from the maritime rescue coordination center in Boston requesting "assistance for the search of the overdue research sub," said Lt. Commander Len Hickey. The sub had lost contact with its surface vessel, Hickey said.
The JRCC provided a six-wing aircraft and a Canadian Coast Guard vessel to aid in the search.
Hickey was unable to provide more information and referred additional questions to the Boston Coast Guard, which is leading the effort.
The Titanic, which sank in 1912, is about 13,000 feet at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean nearly 400 nautical miles off the Newfoundland coast.
According to OceanGate's website, which worked intermittently Monday, a deep sea voyage to view the Titanic wreck was underway. The company confirmed to the BBC that it owned the missing vessel.
"We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely," the company said in a statement. "Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families."
Representatives for the U.S. Coast Guard and the Boston Coast Guard did not immediately return repeated requests for comment. Representatives for OceanGate Expeditions also did not immediately return requests for comment.
According to its website, OceanGate is a privately owned company in Everett, Wash., established in 2009 that operates a trio of five‑person submersibles for "site survey, scientific research, film production and exploration travel." Its vessels can reach about 13,123 feet deep, the company said.
The company offers an eight-day, seven-night voyage to the Titanic wreck, according to its website. The cost runs about $250,000, according to the site.
"Become one of the few to see the Titanic with your own eyes," the company says on its Titanic expeditions page.
The trip sets off from and returns to the city of St. John's in Newfoundland, Canada, and takes "intrepid travelers" onboard a submersible called "The Titan" to explore the site of the Titanic wreck. Dive expeditions can begin as early as Day 3, according to the website. The Titan carries up to five people, the website said.
According to the website, no previous dive experience is necessary but details some physical requirements, including being able to board small boats in rough seas and sit for long periods of time. Explorers must also be at least 18 or older, the website said.
Those embarking on the expedition receive a vessel orientation and safety briefing after boarding the ship, the company said on its website.
The Titanic was a British luxury liner that made its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912, bound for New York with 2,227 passengers and crew aboard. But the vessel, then the largest in the world, rammed into an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic in the early morning hours of April 13, killing more than 1,500 people.
In September 1985, an American and French team of researchers found the liner thousands of feet down.
