Titanic-bound submersible goes missing in Atlantic Ocean; massive rescue efforts under way

Titanic-bound submersible goes missing in Atlantic Ocean; massive rescue efforts under way



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.

TheBlaze reached out to OceanGate Expeditions and to the U.S. Coast Guard's First District, but did not hear back in time for publication.
Watch an 8K video below from an OceanGate Expeditions 2022 trip to visit the wreckage of the Titanic.

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VIDEO: Visibly emotional William Shatner's hilarious reaction to floating in space for the first time



Legendary actor William Shatner became the oldest person to travel to space earlier this week, and his reaction was nothing short of priceless.

Shatner, who famously portrayed Captain James T. Kirk in "Star Trek," was blown away by his first space trip.

What are the details?

Blue Origin shared video Wednesday of Shatner's hilarious reaction to weightlessly floating in space in the aerospace giant's New Shepard capsule.

In the now-viral clip, Shatner can be heard saying, "Weightlessness! Oh, Jesus. ... No description can equal this. Wow."

Shatner was accompanied by Blue Origin vice president of mission and flight operations Audrey Powers, Planet Labs co-founder Chris Boshuizen, and Medidata Solutions co-founder Glen de Vries.

According to People, Shatner told Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin founder, that the trip was unlike anything he ever imagined or experienced.

"I hope I never recover from this. I hope I can maintain what I feel now," he said. "I don't want to lose it. It's so, so much larger than me. It has to do with the enormity and the quickness and the rudeness of life and death."

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On Thursday, Shatner added that everything "just stood still" when he arrived in space on the suborbital mission.

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This was the voyage of the RSS First Step today. Its mission: encounter Earth from incredible views at apogee https://t.co/Gzsnkv97K9

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Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York pounced on Bezos' comments.

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Joining the 57-year-old billionaire business tycoon and his brother aboard the jaunt into space were 82-year-old Wally Funk and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen who are now respectively the oldest and youngest individuals ever to have ventured into space, according to Blue Origin.

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"Named after Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to go to space, New Shepard is our reusable suborbital rocket system designed to take astronauts and research payloads past the Kármán line – the internationally recognized boundary of space," according the Blue Origin website.

Bezos said that the way to protect the earth "is slowly over decades to move all heavy industry, all polluting industry, out into space. That's what we're gonna do so we can keep this planet the gem that it is," he said during an interview with BloombergTV's Emily Chang.

"Blue Origin was founded by Jeff Bezos with the vision of enabling a future where millions of people are living and working in space to benefit Earth," the company's website says. "In order to preserve Earth, Blue Origin believes that humanity will need to expand, explore, find new energy and material resources, and move industries that stress Earth into space. Blue is working on this today by developing partially and fully reusable launch vehicles that are safe, low cost and serve the needs of all civil, commercial and defense customers."

The very first interview with @jeffbezos and his brother Mark after landing.Jeff: “Awe-inspiring…” and then he’s… https://t.co/gp1yga6nki

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