Missing Titanic submersible: What we know about the search for the vessel and those on board
A search and rescue mission is under way to find a missing submersible with five people on board that lost contact near the wreck of the Titanic.
OceanGate Expeditions confirmed that one of its submersibles had gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean while taking passengers to see the famous wreck.
Titanic sub missing – live updates: NATO rescue sub cannot reach required depths
Here is what we know so far.
Oceangate’s Titan Submersible. Pic:Oceangate
Where and when did the submersible go missing?
The submersible went missing on Sunday in the Atlantic, some 435 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada.
The Titan was launched as part of an expedition involving The Polar Prince, an icebreaker that was hired by OceanGate and formerly operated by the Canadian Coast Guard.
The ship ferried dozens of people and the submersible craft to the North Atlantic wreck site, where the Titan was scheduled to make multiple dives.
It is understood from OceanGate that Titan has a 96-hour oxygen supply in case of emergencies meaning only around two days of “life support” remain.
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Why the hunt for the missing vessel is so diffcult
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Timelapse shows marine traffic after submersible goes missing.
What is the Titan?
The Titan is a small submersible operated by OceanGate – a US-based company which offers crewed submersibles for industry, research and exploration.
Tickets cost $250,000 (£195,000) for an eight-day trip including dives to the wreck.
According to the company, the Titan is capable of diving 13,120ft “with a comfortable safety margin”.
It takes the craft around two hours to descend approximately 12,500ft – where the Titanic wreck lies in a trench in the Atlantic.
The vessel, which weighs around 23,000lbs (10,432kg), operates by pinging back a message every 15 minutes to signal to those ashore that it is safe.
However, Sky News understands that those pings have stopped.
In a May 2021 court filing, OceanGate said the Titan had an “unparalleled safety feature” that assesses the integrity of the hull throughout every dive.
At the time of the filing, Titan had undergone more than 50 test dives, including to the equivalent depth of the Titanic, the company said.
During its 2022 expedition, OceanGate reported that the submersible had a battery issue on its first dive and had to be manually attached to its lifting platform, according to a November court filing.
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‘Challenging’ hunt for sub
What about the rescue effort?
US and Canadian ships and planes have been involved in the rescue efforts, but the remote location and depth make the operation particularly challenging.
Also, it is unclear whether the Titan is still underwater or had surfaced and was unable to communicate.
US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said: “It is a remote area and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area.
“We are deploying all available assets to make sure that we can locate the craft and rescue the people on board.”
The Polar Prince is being used to search the surface where the submersible was launched. Canadian Boeing P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft and two Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft also conducted overflights.
OceanGate Expeditions said it was “mobilising all options” to rescue those on board.
What do we know about the people on board?
• Hamish Harding
British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, was confirmed as one of the passengers by his stepson Brian Szasz, who said on Facebook that his stepfather was in his “thoughts and prayers”.
Mr Harding is the current chairman of Action Aviation – a sales and operations company that offers a range of services in the business aviation industry.
Posting on social media before the trip, Mr Harding said he was joining OceanGate Expeditions – the company that supplied the vessel – as a mission specialist.
He wrote that due to bad weather in Newfoundland, Canada, the expedition was likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023.
Based in the United Arab Emirates – where Action Aviation headquarters is based – Mr Harding described himself on social media as a world explorer.
He holds the Guinness world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth via the North and South Poles by an aircraft – 46 hours, 40 minutes and 22 seconds.
In 2016, Harding accompanied former astronaut Buzz Aldrin to the South Pole, when Aldrin became the oldest person ever to reach the Antarctic region, at 86.
Last year, he also took part in the fifth human space flight by Blue Origin – an American aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos.
Jannicke Mikkelsen, an explorer and friend of Hamish Harding, told Sky News she believed Mr Harding would be an “important asset” to the others in the submersible.
Jannicke Mikkelsen, an explorer and friend of Hamish Harding, said she believed he would be an “important asset” to the others in the submersible
“He will go through the emergency checklists and procedures together with the captain of the submersible,” she said.
“He will also be a good inspiration to the rest of the team to keep calm. I really believe Hamish is the one that can help lead this team – because he has been in tricky situations in the past on expeditions.
She added: “I’m terrified if they are stuck at the bottom of the ocean with 96 hours of air and not able to get back to the surface – this is what I fear the most.”
• Stockton Rush
Stockton Rush is chief executive and founder of OceanGate Inc – a company that provides crewed submersible services to enable researchers and explorers to access the oceans’ vast resources.
Having trained as a pilot, he became the youngest jet transport rated pilot in the world at the age of 19.
He is also a founder and member of the board of trustees of non-profit organisation OceanGate Foundation, which aims to catalyse emerging marine technology to further discoveries in marine science, history, and archaeology.
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OceanGate CEO speaks to Sky News
In an interview with Sky News back in February, Mr Rush spoke about visiting the Titanic wreck.
“What really strikes you is how beautiful it is,” he said. “You don’t normally see that on a shipwreck.
“It is an amazingly beautiful wreck.”
When asked if they can go inside the wreckage, Mr Rush said: “You can see inside, we dipped down and saw the grand staircase and saw some of the chandeliers still hanging.
“Next year we are hoping to send a small robot inside but for now we stay on the outside.”
• Paul-Henri Nargeolet
Paul-Henri Nargeolet is a former commander who served in the French Navy for 25 years.
During his service, he became the captain of the deep submergence group of the navy.
After leaving the navy he joined the French Institute for Research and Exploitation of the Sea, according to The Five Deeps Expedition – a company that assembles scientists, engineers and submersible operators for missions.
Mr Nargeolet has already led several expeditions to the Titanic site and has been involved in numerous scientific and technical expeditions around the world.
• Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman
Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, are also on board, their family said in a statement.
“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,” they added.
The Dawoods belong to one of Pakistan’s most prominent families, whose eponymous firm invests across the country in agriculture, industries and the health sector.
Mr Dawood, 48, also currently serves as the vice chairman of the board of Engro Corporation – a Pakistan-based conglomerate operating across a number of sectors including fertiliser and chemical production.
The UK-based businessman is also a trustee at the SETI Institute – a Silicon Valley not-for-profit working in space exploration.
Israeli strikes killed at least 85 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Thursday, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Five UN staff members have also been killed, according to the head of the UNRWA.
It comes as fighting in the enclave has restarted in recent days.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, the United Nations Palestinian relief agency, said on Thursday: “In the past few days, another five UNRWA staff have been confirmed killed, bringing the death toll to 284.
“They were teachers, doctors and nurses: serving the most vulnerable.”
He added he feared “the worst is yet to come”.
“Under our daily watch, people in Gaza are again and again going through their worst nightmare,” he said in a statement.
“An endless unleashing of the most inhumane ordeals.”
Speaking in Parliament, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK government opposed the resumption of Israel’s hostilities and added that a British national was among the wounded when a UN compound was struck on Wednesday.
Israel has previously said it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas.
It denied previous reports it had targeted a UN compound.
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Briton wounded in Israeli strike
Israel resumes strikes
On Tuesday, Israel resumed heavy airstrikes on the enclave killing more than 400 people, bringing to a halt the ceasefire that had paused fighting in the 17-month war.
A day later, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) relaunched ground operations, seizing part of a key corridor that divides the north and south of Gaza – the Netzarim corridor.
On Thursday, the IDF said it had begun a ground operation in northern Gaza.
Meanwhile, Hamas fired three rockets at Israel without causing casualties.
It was the first such attack since the resumption of the IDF’s strikes.
Palestinians mourn loved ones killed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis. Pic: Reuters
Hospitals across Gaza said the strikes hit houses in Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza and the northern town of Beit Lahiya.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Pic: Reuters
The European Hospital in Rafah said 26 people, mostly women and children, had been killed in strikes on two family homes overnight.
A father and his seven children were killed in one of the attacks, it added.
The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis received the bodies of seven people killed overnight in an attack on a home, it said.
A child looks on as Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Khan Younis. Pic: Reuters
Meanwhile, Hamas said talks with mediators were ongoing.
Fragile ceasefire
Hamas and Israel disagreed over how to proceed with the ceasefire after phase one came to an end.
The militant group wanted to move onto phase two to negotiate Israel’s permanent withdrawal from Gaza, the release of hostages in exchange for more prisoners and an eventual end to the war.
Read more:
What happened to the Israel-Hamas ceasefire?
Siblings among those killed in one of Gaza’s deadliest days
A man sits amid rubble in Khan Younis. Pic: Reuters/Hatem Khaled
Israel wanted to temporarily extend phase one and for more hostages to be released.
It cut off all supplies to Gaza to try and pressure the group into doing so before restarting its military campaign.
The war started after Hamas militants attacked Israeli communities in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.
More than 49,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to Gaza’s health authorities,
The tone has changed totally. It’s a remarkable turnaround from the Oval Office meltdown to the perfect phone call.
President Trump is wholly transactional. His desire for give and take far outweighs any ideological instincts. He has no particular alignment to Ukraine or, for that matter, to Russia.
He just wants a deal. Peace would stop the killing as he has said repeatedly. It would also allow for deals which can benefit America: recouping the taxpayer money spent on Ukraine and reconnecting the American economy with Russia.
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Will Trump turn on Putin?
But trumping all that is his legacy and his image. He wants to be seen as the peacemaker president.
Since the Oval Office moment, Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy seems now to have recognised all that.
Ukraine’s approach towards Trump has changed. Zelenskyy is now playing his game: transactionalism.
The minerals deal hasn’t dissolved. The indications I am getting is that it’s essentially been upgraded and broadened to a wider scope: fuller economic cooperation.
Zelenskyy needs to encourage America deep into his country economically. Has he bought into the idea that a US economic footprint amounts to a key part of a security guarantee?
Read more:
A timeline of Trump and Zelenskyy’s relationship
What could be the future of Ukraine?
Sky’s correspondents react to Trump-Putin phone call
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The old adage is: “If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.” That’s too true with President Trump.
Zelenskyy now feels like he’s at the table and I am told he doesn’t feel coerced.
The challenges remain huge though: he doesn’t trust Putin. That’s what he tried to tell President Trump in the Oval Office. The performance that day proved to him that Trump is inclined to trust Putin.
Zelenskyy must use transactionalism to draw an impatient Trump in.
President Trump is in a hurry for a deal. He’s inclined to accept wholly disingenuous commitments from Russia, or as one source put it to me: “Trump has a high tolerance for bullshit…”
That’s the jeopardy for Zelenskyy.
World
Donald Trump has ‘very good’ call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which he discusses US ownership of Ukrainian energy plants
US President Donald Trump has had a “very good” call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the White House says, during which US ownership of Ukraine’s energy network was discussed to help protect it.
Mr Trump also agreed to “help locate” additional air defence support in Europe after a request from the Ukrainian leader, a statement about the one-hour phone call said.
Further talks will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in the coming days, and the US will continue intelligence sharing with Ukraine, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
Mr Trump also agreed to work to ensure missing Ukrainian children are returned home and both parties agreed to a temporary 30-day ceasefire involving attacks against energy facilities, with the US president saying the US “could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise”, Ms Leavitt said.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio also issued a statement about the call saying that “President Trump also discussed Ukraine’s electrical supply and nuclear power plants.
“He said that the United States could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise. American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure.”
The White House statement added that Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy also reviewed the situation in Kursk and agreed to share information closely.
The presidents instructed their teams to move ahead with the details of implementing a partial ceasefire, with discussions to include expanding any ceasefire to the Black Sea.
“We have never been closer to peace,” Ms Leavitt added.
In comments later on Wednesday, Mr Zelenskyy said that Mr Trump understands that Ukraine will not recognise occupied land as Russian, and that he would like the US president to visit Ukraine – adding that “it would be helpful for Trump in his peace efforts”.
In an earlier statement, President Zelenskyy said the two leaders had “a positive, very substantive and frank conversation”.
Mr Zelenskyy echoed much of Mr Trump’s statement about what was decided, and said later that he “felt no pressure” from the US president.
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Trump and Zelenskyy ‘on track’
“We agreed that Ukraine and the United States should continue working together to achieve a real end to the war and lasting peace. We believe that together with America, with President Trump, and under American leadership, lasting peace can be achieved this year,” Mr Zelenskyy said
He added that Ukraine would “continue working to make this happen”.
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“I stressed that Ukrainians want peace, which is why Ukraine accepted the proposal for an unconditional ceasefire,” he said. “I highlighted the importance of President Trump’s concept of peace through strength. We agreed to maintain constant contact, including at the highest level and through our teams.”
In an earlier post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said the “very good” phone call lasted around one hour.
Read more:
A timeline of Trump and Zelenskyy’s relationship
What could be the future of Ukraine?
Sky’s correspondents react to Trump-Putin phone call
“Much of the discussion was based on the call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs,” Mr Trump said.
“We are very much on track,” he added.
The call marks the first time Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy have spoken since the disastrous confrontation in the White House last month.
Mr Zelenskyy travelled to Washington expecting to sign a critical minerals deal but left early after he and Trump clashed in front of the world’s cameras.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin held a phone call lasting about an hour and a half in which the Russian leader rejected a full 30-day ceasefire.
He agreed to not attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for 30 days. The two countries also swapped 175 prisoners each earlier this morning.
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