Rescuers race against time to find submersible visiting Titanic wreck

The submersible, Titan, is missing (American Photo Archive/Alamy/PA)

Rescue teams are in a race against time to find a submersible tourist vessel which went missing during a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck off the coast of Canada, with a British billionaire among five people aboard.

There may be as little as 57 hours of emergency oxygen left aboard the submersible, which lost communication with tour operators on Sunday while about 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland.

Private plane firm Action Aviation said its British chairman Hamish Harding is one of the mission specialists on the five-person OceanGate Expeditions vessel, which is 6.7 metres long (22ft).

UK-based businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman Dawood have also been named in a family statement as two of the other people on board the “very tiny” craft.

French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet and chief executive and founder of OceanGate Expeditions Stockton Rush are also on the vessel, according to reports.

The US Coast Guard is leading search efforts and Rear Admiral John W Mauger estimated there was 70 to 96 hours left at a press conference held just before 5pm Boston time (10pm Irish time) on Monday.

(PA Graphics)

A statement from the Dawood Family, obtained by CNN, said: “As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available.

“We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time. The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members.”

Mr Dawood is the vice chairman of Pakistani conglomerate Engro Corporation, which was founded as a fertiliser business, and, according to the company’s website, a board member of the King’s charity, Prince’s Trust International.

It is understood the Dawood family, who live in Surbiton, south-west London, are in Canada for a month.

(PA Graphics)

The search and rescue operation, involving military aircraft 900 miles east of Cape Cod, was continuing on Tuesday.

The US Coast Guard said the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince and 106 Rescue wing will continue to conduct surface searches alongside two US C-130 flights.

Historian Tim Maltin, an expert on the history of the Titanic, told BBC Breakfast on Tuesday that he is “very worried about the souls” on board the missing vessel.

Mike Reiss, a writer who took the Titanic submersible trip last year, said he is “not optimistic” over the search because he knows how “vast” the ocean is and how “very tiny” the craft is.

Mr Mauger said on Monday they are doing “everything” they can to find the submersible, saying it has one pilot and four mission specialists aboard with up to 96 hours of emergency oxygen.

“We anticipate that there’s somewhere between 70 to the full 96 hours at this point,” he said. “It is a remote area and a challenge, but we are deploying all available assets.”

He said additional resources would arrive in the coming days.

Mark Butler, managing director of Action Aviation, said: “There is still plenty of time to facilitate a rescue mission, there is equipment on board for survival in this event. We’re all hoping and praying he comes back safe and sound.”

Mr Harding holds three Guinness World Records, including the longest duration at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel when, in March 2021, he and ocean explorer Victor Vescovo dived to the lowest depth of the Mariana Trench. In June 2022, he went into space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.

His cousin, Kathleen Cosnett, told The Daily Telegraph she saw Mr Harding as “daring” and “inquisitive”, and that she was “devastated” to learn he was missing.

On social media at the weekend, he said he was “proud to finally announce” he would be aboard the mission to the wreck of the Titanic, the luxury ocean liner which hit an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing more than 1,500 people.

Tour operator White Desert Antarctica, with whom Mr Harding has travelled, said all at the company are “praying” that those missing are found safe and well.

The side of the RMS Titanic in her resting place at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean (Atlantic Productions/PA)

Founder Patrick Woodhead said: “We have faith in the incredible emergency services now focused on finding the sub in the area around the Titanic.

“Hamish has been a true friend to White Desert for many years and is an incredible aviation explorer in his own right.

“He has travelled with us to Antarctica a number of times, including with astronaut Buzz Aldrin when he visited.”

The Explorers’ Club, of which Mr Harding is a founding member, shared the news of his disappearance on Instagram, with club president Richard Garriot saying: “When I saw Hamish last week… his excitement about this expedition was palpable,” he said.

“I know he was looking forward to conducting research at the site. We all join in the fervent hope that the submersible is located as quickly as possible and the crew is safe.”

OceanGate Expeditions said its focus was on those aboard the vessel and their families.

“We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible,” the company said in a statement.

The Titan submersible weighs 20,000lb (OceanGate Expeditions/AP)

“We are working toward the safe return of the crew members.”

A court document filed by OceanGate in the US in April states that the submersible, named Titan, can dive to 13,120ft “with a comfortable safety margin”, Associated Press reported on Monday.

Titan weighs 20,000lb, is made of “titanium and filament wound carbon fibre” and has proven to “withstand the enormous pressures of the deep ocean”, OceanGate reportedly said.

The submersible was taking part in OceanGate’s third annual voyage to monitor the decay of the ship’s wreckage, following expeditions in 2021 and 2022.

The initial group of tourists in 2021 paid $100,000-$150,000 apiece to go on the trip.