What we know about the missing Titanic submersible and those on board

Published

2 years ago

June 20, 2023

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Rescuers are facing a race against time to find a missing submersible, which went missing near the wreck of the Titanic.

OceanGate Expeditions, a company that deploys vessels for deep sea expeditions, confirmed that one of its submersibles had gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean after taking passengers to see the famous wreck.

A UK billionaire, French submersible pilot and the CEO of a company that provides crewed submersibles are believed to be three of the people on board a missing vessel.

A search remains ongoing. But rescuers fear that the submersible, named the Titan, may have no more than a couple of days at best before its life support systems fail.

Five people were onboard the submersible at the time it lost contact, according to the US Coast Guard.

Hamish Harding, 58, a UK billionaire was confirmed as one of the passengers, by his stepson Brian Szasz, who said on Facebook that his step father was in his “thoughts and prayers”.

Sky News also understands that French submersible pilot, Paul-Henry Nargeolet, and chief executive and founder of OceanGate Expeditions, Stockton Rush, were also on board.

Where and where did the submersible go missing?

The submersible went missing on Sunday in the Atlantic, some 435 miles (700km) south of Newfoundland, Canada.

The Titan was launched as part of an expedition involving an icebreaker, The Polar Prince, that was hired by OceanGate and formerly operated by the Canadian Coast Guard.

The Polar Prince is now being used to search the surface near to where the submersible was launched.

It is understood from the vessel’s operator that Titan has a 96-hour oxygen supply in case of emergencies meaning only around two days of “life support” remain.

The US Coast Guard Northeast said The Polar Prince and the 106th Rescue Wing would continue surface searches throughout Monday evening.

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.

What do we know about the three passengers so far?

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 on Sunday, Mr Harding confirmed that 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 – 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.

Last year he also took part in the fifth human space flight by Blue Origin – an American aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos.

Stockton Rush is CEO 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.

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-Henry 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 (IFREMER), 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.

World

Israel allows Red Cross and Egyptian teams into Gaza as search for bodies of hostages widens

Published

9 hours ago

October 26, 2025

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Israel allows Red Cross and Egyptian teams into Gaza as search for bodies of hostages widens

International teams searching for the bodies of hostages have been allowed to cross Israel’s military boundary in Gaza, according to an Israeli government spokesperson.

Hamas says it has expanded its search for the bodies of hostages in Gaza, a day after a team of Egyptian experts arrived to help retrieve them.

The team is working with the Red Cross during the search.

“Israel is aware that Hamas knows where our deceased hostages are, in fact, located. If Hamas made more of an effort,
they would be able to retrieve the remains of our hostages,” the government spokesperson said on Sunday.

The military boundary, often referred to as the “yellow line”, is a boundary for Israel Defence Forces (IDF) troops in Gaza, established by the ceasefire agreement.

The fragile ceasefire, brokered by the US, relies on Hamas returning all the remains of Israeli hostages as soon as possible, but in the past five days, no bodies have been released.

On Saturday, the Egyptian team arrived with an excavator and bulldozers to help search for bodies, as part of efforts by international mediators to make sure the ceasefire holds.

The bodies of 13 hostages remain in Gaza, with Hamas chief Khalil al Hayya saying the group has started searching in new areas on Sunday morning.

As part of the ceasefire deal, Israel agreed to give back 15 bodies of Palestinians for every body of a hostage.

Israel has now sent back the bodies of 195 Palestinians, while Hamas has returned 15 bodies of hostages.

US President Donald Trump warned he is “watching very closely” to ensure Hamas returns more bodies.

“Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not,” he wrote on Truth Social.

“Let’s see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely,” he said in his post on Saturday.

Last week, Hayya told an Egyptian media outlet that efforts to retrieve the bodies faced challenges because of the massive destruction, burying them deep underground.

On Saturday night, Israeli forces struck the central Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza for the second time in a week, according to Awda Hospital.

The IDF claimed it was targeting militants associated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group who were planning to attack Israeli troops.

Islamic Jihad, the second largest militant group in Gaza, denied it was preparing for an attack.

Hamas called the strike a “clear violation” of the ceasefire and accused Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting to sabotage President Trump’s efforts to end the war.

The strike on Saturday came hours after US secretary of state Marco Rubio left Israel.

He was the latest in a series of White House officials to visit Israel and visit a new centre for civilian and military coordination that is attempting to oversee the ceasefire.

US vice president JD Vance was in Israel earlier this week, as were American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law.

World

Prosecutor furious as news leaks of Louvre heist gang arrests

Published

15 hours ago

October 26, 2025

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Prosecutor furious as news leaks of Louvre heist gang arrests

Two men have been arrested following a robbery at the Louvre museum in Paris which saw thieves escape with priceless jewellery, including part of the French crown jewels.

Confirming arrests had been made on Saturday night, French public prosecutor Laure Beccuau appeared furious with the way the arrests were announced.

She said: “I deeply deplore the hasty disclosure of this information by informed individuals, without consideration for the investigation.

“This revelation can only harm the investigative efforts of the hundred or so investigators involved in the search for both the stolen jewellery and all the perpetrators.”

While Ms Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests, she said one man had been arrested as he was preparing to leave the country from Charles de Gaulle Airport.

A second man was arrested on the same evening, also in the Paris region, according to French media.

Ms Beccuau did not say whether jewels had been recovered.

Both men are originally from Seine-Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, according to French daily paper Le Parisien.

The operation is understood to have been swiftly launched after investigators, who had been monitoring the two individuals for days, realised that one of them was about to flee abroad. French media reported he was set to board a flight to Algeria.

Ms Beccuau said it was too early to provide any further details, but would say more at the end of the period of police custody.

Commenting on the arrests on social media, France’s interior minister Laurent Nunez praised the investigators for “working tirelessly” and said “the investigations must continue while respecting the confidentiality of the inquiry”.

The suspects are now in pre-trial detention as part of investigations into the “organised theft” and “criminal conspiracy to commit a crime”. They can be held for up to 96 hours.

The men are suspected of being part of the group of criminals who used a cherry picker to reach a window in the Apollo Gallery of the Louvre, smashing display cases and making off with jewels worth £76m. They fled on motorbikes.

One of the world’s most famous museums, attracting up to 30,000 visitors a day, the Louvre was forced to close last Sunday morning after thieves accessed a gallery containing the French crown jewels at around 9.30am local time (8.30am UK time).

It took them less than eight minutes to steal eight “priceless” objects, including sapphire and emerald necklaces, and a diamond brooch containing 2,438 diamonds.

A ninth item – the emerald crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie – was stolen but recovered, damaged at the scene.

The Louvre reopened to visitors earlier this week.

Sky News has contacted French police for comment.

World

Trump oversees signing of ‘historic’ Thailand-Cambodia ceasefire deal

Published

15 hours ago

October 26, 2025

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Trump oversees signing of 'historic' Thailand-Cambodia ceasefire deal

US President Donald Trump has overseen the signing of an expanded ceasefire deal between Thailand and Cambodia, which he helped negotiate this summer to resolve their border dispute.

The ceremony took place shortly after Mr Trump arrived in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur for the ASEAN summit on Sunday, in what he described as a “momentous day”.

“There was a lot of killing. And then we got it stopped, very quickly,” he said before Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed the agreement.

“We did something that a lot of people said couldn’t be done,” said Mr Trump. Mr Manet called it a “historic day” and Mr Charnvirakul said the agreement creates “the building blocks for a lasting peace”.

The ceasefire agreement calls for Thailand to release 18 Cambodian soldiers in captivity and for both countries to start withdrawing heavy weapons from the border.

The US president said he had signed economic deals with both nations and was scheduled to finalise a trade agreement with Malaysia later in the day.

During the ASEAN Summit, regional leaders are expected to work on stabilising ties with the US.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and a troupe of ceremonial dancers greeted Mr Trump at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. He paused on the red carpet to dance with the performers before getting into his limousine.

Kuala Lumpur is the first stop of Mr Trump’s week-long trip to the region, which also includes visits to Japan and South Korea.

This includes a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea.

Asked by a reporter whether rare earths were discussed in the US-China talks that began on Saturday, US trade negotiator Jamieson Greer said a wide range of topics were covered, including extending the trade truce.

“I believe we are reaching a point where the leaders will have a very productive meeting,” Mr Greer said.

Mr Trump is also expected to discuss tariffs with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is among the leaders attending the APEC summit.

East Timor, Asia’s youngest nation, officially became ASEAN’s 11th member on Sunday, fulfilling a vision its current president had nearly 50 years ago, when the country was still a Portuguese colony.

Also known as Timor-Leste, the nation of 1.4 million is among Asia’s poorest and hopes joining the bloc will strengthen its fledgling economy. At roughly $2bn, it represents only a small fraction of ASEAN’s combined $3.8trn GDP.