A submersible used to show tourists the wreck of the Titanic has reportedly gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean, prompting authorities to launch a search and rescue operation.
Though the search is underway, few details have surfaced as of Monday morning, the Boston Coastguard told the BBC. At this time it is unknown how many people, if any, were inside the missing sub. The Titanic rests 3,800 meters (roughly 12,500 feet) below the surface and 600 kilometers (about 370 miles) off the Newfoundland, Canada, coast.
The company behind the reportedly missing sub has not been publicly identified. (RELATED: First 8K Video Of Titanic Wreck Released)
New, high-resolution footage of the Titanic offers a glimpse into the ambitions of the deep-sea tourism industry. Tourists paid $250,000 to take a submersible to view the wreckage. https://t.co/xFTvOtMZgi pic.twitter.com/hONq6veksY
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 5, 2022
Titanic tourism is a small but growing industry, according to a September 2022 article from The New York Times (NYT). Companies such as OceanGate Expeditions charge tens of thousands of dollars per ticket to give tourists a glimpse of the sunken liner. Patrons paid $250,000 for an OceanGate ticket in the summer of 2022, according to the outlet. OceanGate appears to offer a Summer 2023 expedition, the company’s official website shows, but details are scarce at the time of writing.
This article has been updated to refer to the craft as a submersible, not a submarine.