Titanic Tourist Submarine w /5 People On Board Still Missing, Coast Guard Says They Will ‘Keep Working’ Until Vessel Is Located 

Titanic Tourist Submarine w /5 People On Board Still Missing, Coast Guard Says They Will ‘Keep Working’ Until Vessel Is Located

The race is on to find a missing submarine.

According to reports, a deep sea vessel holding three tourists and two crew members went missing somewhere off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts this past Sunday (Jun. 18). At the time of this report, it’s highly speculated that there’s roughly a day’s supply of oxygen left on board.

Reportedly, the experimental submersible is owned by OceanGate Expeditions and was attempting to visit the Titanic wreckage located at the bottom of the Atlantic. As seen in the classic 1997 film “Titanic” – inspired by the true story of the ship – more than 1,500 lives were lost when the boat sank after hitting an iceberg on its way from England to New York in 1912. It’s noted in one report that OceanGate advertises trips to see the wreckage on its website, claiming to offer an  “extraordinary”  experience, where guests pay $250,000 per person for the expedition.

Via OceanGate Expeditions Website

Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick gave an update on the search yesterday (Jun. 20), explaining the difficulty of the situation. According to Frederick, search and rescue teams have already been over 7,600 square miles of the ocean, and are covering an area “larger than the state of Connecticut.” He reportedly stated during a press conference:

“Search and rescue crews are working around the clock to find the submersible and crew”

Frederick added that more crew and aid from the Pentagon were being deployed to help locate the watercraft.

Today (Jun. 21) a Canadian Coast Guard official revealed to CNN that one of its ships with “advanced deep sonar” has joined the search for the missing Titanic submersible and said:

“We have to keep working until we find the submersible,”

They added:

“There have been sounds that have been picked up, and that just means that we will continue to double down and to figure out where the submersible is and how it can be brought to the surface.”

Onboard the vessel is reportedly OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush, a billionaire named Hamish Harding, a Pakistani businessman named Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, as well as an unnamed fifth person who is a crew member.

As news of the alarming incident spread, more details involving OceanGate’s problematic decision to sail the submersible has come to light. Reportedly, the company was engaged in a legal battle with its former director of marine operations David Lochridge back in 2018. Lochridge reportedly expressed concerns over allowing passengers on board before it was properly tested to ensure it could withstand extremely dangerous situations. Additionally, the former OceanGate employee found an issue with the viewing platform where guests would be able to look out clearly into the ocean. The surfaced court filing reportedly read:

“Lochridge learned that the viewport manufacturer would only certify to a depth of 1,300 meters due to the experimental design of the viewport supplied by OceanGate, which was out of the Pressure Vessels for Human Occupancy (‘PVHO’) standards,”

Adding:

“OceanGate refused to pay for the manufacturer to build a viewport that would meet the required depth of 4,000 meters,” the filing said. “The paying passengers would not be aware, and would not be informed, of this experimental design, the lack of non-destructive testing of the hull, or that hazardous flammable materials were being used within the submersible.”

OceanGate reportedly sued Lochridge for breach of contract and disclosing private company information, but they ultimately parted ways and settled the dispute. We will continue to update as more information comes along.

[VIA 1,2,3,4]

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