Coast Guard Searching for Missing Sub Lost During Titanic Expedition

The U.S. Coast Guard is conducting a search and rescue operation to locate a submersible craft with five people on board that went missing on Sunday roughly 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada

Details: The missing sub is a tourist vessel operated by OceanGate Expeditions. It descends roughly 12,500 feet to the bottom of the northern Atlantic Ocean to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, the ship that famously collided with an iceberg and sank in 1912. The missing sub began its descent Sunday morning and lost contact with those tracking it roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes after. The sub is reportedly equipped with roughly 96 hours worth of oxygen. Passengers are believed to include OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British businessman Hamish Harding, French explorer P.H. Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his son, Sulaiman Dawood.

Key Quotes: Over the weekend, Harding posted about the upcoming expedition on social media, stating the dive was coming amid the “worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years.” A statement from OceanGate read, “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.” Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. Samantha Corcoran stated, “Right now, we are just trying to use all efforts and work with international partners to try to get any resources out there to safely locate all five individuals.”

How The Media Is Covering It: The missing sub is the top story in most major outlets across the spectrum on Tuesday, with updates regularly reported. Updated 6/20/23 at 8:34 am ET.