Washington (EFE) in the Atlantic with five people on board who were going to see the wreckage of the Titanic.
“Our crews from the Coast Guard and from the US and Canadian governments and the private sector have been working day and night to bring all the capabilities we have to find the submersible and locate these people,” he said Tuesday in an interview on ABC News John Mauger, Commandant of the Coast Guard.
Throughout the night, he said, several planes have flown over the search area, located approximately 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) from Cape Cod in Massachusetts, where it is presumed that the submarine could be found. It could be on the surface or underwater, as deep as 13,000 feet (about 4,000 meters).
“As we continue with the search, we are expanding our capabilities to also be able to search underwater and now we have a commercial vessel with remotely operated vehicles” (aquatic drones), he explained.
Who travels on board?
Although there is no official list, in the last hours details about the occupants of the submarine have been known. Among them is Hamish Harding, a British businessman and explorer, Action Aviation CEO Mark Butler said.
Harding, 58, is president of the company and holds several Guinness World Records, including the longest time to traverse the deepest part of the ocean in a single dive.
Before the start of the trip, the explorer himself reported it through social networks and posted on Instagram photos of the submersible and of him signing a flag for the mission to the Titanic.
Also traveling aboard El Titan, the name of the vessel belonging to the company OceanGate Expeditions, is British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, according to a statement from the Engro Corporation, of which Dawood – who is a descendant of one of the richest families in Pakistan – is vice president.
The Frenchman Paul-Henry Nargeolet would be the pilot of the device, several people close to the man known as “Mr. Titanic” confirmed to the press.
Throughout his career, Nargeolet has led several expeditions to the Titanic and has overseen the recovery of a large number of artifacts from the wreck.
The US Coast Guard began an extensive search operation Monday with the help of Canada to locate the submarine. OceanGate Expeditions reported to the authorities on Sunday the disappearance of the device with five people on board: the pilot and four passengers.
Visiting the Titanic, a unique service
According to the company itself, the boat has enough provisions for the crew to survive inside for four days.
On its website, the company offers trips of eight days and seven nights to visit the remains of the Titanic, with an approximate price of 250,000 dollars.
The remains of the Titanic, which sank after colliding with an iceberg in 1912, lie at a depth of around 3,800 meters and at a distance of approximately 640 kilometers from the Canadian island of Newfoundland.
The Titan, towed by the ship “Polar Prince”, departed on Friday from San Juan de Newfoundland (Canada) to the site of the sinking of the Titanic, local Canadian media reported.
OceanGate Expeditions is the only company that has a submarine capable of reaching the bottom of the ocean to see the remains of the Titanic up close.