A submersible bound for the wreckage of the Titanic has gone missing in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland, CTV News reported Monday.
"We are bringing all assets to bear to try to find the submersible," Rear Admiral John Mauger, U.S. Coast Guard First District Commander, said in an interview on Fox News Channel's "America Reports" Monday afternoon.
"We were notified yesterday afternoon, and we began immediately to mobilize assets to search both the surface of the water, search from the air, and then also launch equipment that would enable us to detect any vessels under the water."
"The good news is ... this particular submersible is advertised to have 96 hours of survival time. .. That gives us some time to continue to use all means to try to locate the crew members."
The vessel is operated by OceanGate Expeditions. An eight-day, seven-night tour to visit the wreckage costs about $250,000, according to a recently archived version of the now-unreachable website.
"We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely," an OceanGate Expeditions spokesperson told CTV Monday.
"Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible 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 OceanGate Expeditions spokesperson also said.
The missing vessel is reportedly designed to surface automatically if it encounters an issue.
Mauger described the search and rescue operations as "very complicated."
"Anything is possible at this point," Mauger said, adding that the vessel is about 900 miles from the U.S. coast in Massachusetts.
He said C-130 Coast Guard aircraft have been launched. An aircraft that was in the area that normally is on "international iceberg patrol" has been retasked to help search on the surface. Aircraft from Elizabeth City, North Carolina, have also been deployed to the scene.
"It is a large area of water, and it is complicated by local weather conditions, as well," Mauger added of the comprehensive search efforts, which also involve authorities in Canada.
"We're looking into bringing additional vessels that are operating in the area," he said, including a research vessel that was within several hours of the missing submersible.
World explorer Hamish Harding's family confirmed on Facebook that he is among the five people in the missing submersible, according to the New York Post.
Harding reportedly also paid to ride the Blue Origin rocket last year.
The Titanic sank in 1912. It sits roughly 12,500 feet below the surface.
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China is reportedly seeking to establish a permanent military presence in the Atlantic Ocean, a possibility that is "setting off alarm bells at the White House and Pentagon."
Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of U.S. Africa Command, told the U.S. Senate in April that China establishing a military presence on the Atlantic side of Africa is the "most significant" threat from China for the U.S.
"This is the most significant threat, I think, from China would be to gain a militarily useful naval facility on the Atlantic coast of Africa," Townsend said.
"And by 'militarily useful' I mean something more than a place that they can make port calls and get gas and groceries. I am talking about a port where they can rearm with munitions and repair naval vessels," he explained. "They are working aggressively to get that, but we have not seen any of that come to fruition yet, and it is my number one global power competition concern."
Now, it appears China is looking to do just that.
The Wall Street Journal reported, citing classified American intelligence reports, that communist China is exploring the establishment of a military base in the tiny Central African country of Equatorial Guinea.
Intelligence suggests the city of Bata, the largest in Equatorial Guinea, could be the location of the military installation. The possibility is particularly concerning for American interests because Bata sits on the Atlantic Ocean and already has a Chinese-built deep-water port. Thus, the location would be suitable for the Chinese Navy.
The U.S. is so alarmed at the possibility that Jon Finer, deputy national security adviser to President Joe Biden, was dispatched to Equatorial Guinea in October to persuade President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo to stop China from building a military base in his country.
"As part of our diplomacy to address maritime-security issues, we have made clear to Equatorial Guinea that certain potential steps involving [Chinese] activity there would raise national-security concerns," a top Biden administration official told the Journal.
Unfortunately, China appears to be one of Equatorial Guinea's closest allies. After Finer's visit in October, Obiang reportedly spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Following that conversation, China published the statement, "Equatorial Guinea has always regarded China as its most important strategic partner." China also reportedly helps train security forces in Equatorial Guinea.
Additionally, Obiang is a dictator who has held control of Equatorial Guinea for more than 40 years. He has often been accused of human rights abuses and siphoning resources from the oil-rich nation to enrich his own family. Obiang rose to power following a coup d'état in which Obiang ousted his uncle from power in 1979.
The Biden administration is attempting to thwart China's plans through diplomacy and stern messages, one of which is, "It would be shortsighted of Equatorial Guinea to insert itself between the front lines of U.S.-China global competition," according to the Journal.
More from the Journal:
At the same time, the U.S. wants to convey a nuanced message: Washington isn’t asking Equatorial Guinea to abandon its extensive ties with China, but just to keep relations within bounds the U.S. considers unthreatening.
Meanwhile, officials from Equatorial Guinea, including the country's U.S. ambassador, did not respond to the Wall Street Journal's story.
Columbus was no genocidal sociopath; he was an ambitious, expert explorer disastrously incapable of governance, whose poor decisions had consequences he could hardly have predicted.
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Is the Atlantic Ocean About to Catch on Fire?