OceanGate Titanic sub search: Coast Guard confirms 'debris field' is missing tourist sub

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre and the Canadian Armed Forces released a statement on Twitter offering their "sincere condolences to the family and friends of the crew of the Titan for their tragic loss."

After a weeklong search, the OceanGate's Titan was found to have imploded, killing its five passengers.

"A truly unfortunate outcome concluding great efforts and cooperation between countries, militaries and partners," the joint statement read. "As this operation is transitioning to recovery and salvage, MRCC Boston no longer requires rescue services."

JRCC and the Canadian military contributed to the massive, international search for the OceanGate vessel.

"All JRCC rescue assets will return to base to regenerate search and rescue capability and prepare for future search and rescue events," they continued. 

An effort to potential recover and salvage the wreckage of the Titan "is currently being discussed," they said.

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, one of five passengers killed on a fatal mission to the Titanic wreckage this week, once admitted on camera to "breaking some rules" to build the tourist submersible.  

In comments to Mexican travel vlogger Alan Estrada in 2021, Rush evoked General MacArthur saying, "You’re remembered for the rules you break." 

"I’ve broken some rules to make this. I think I’ve broken them with logic and good engineering behind me," Rush said. 

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed Thursday that a debris field found approximately 1,600 feet from the Titanic wreckage was from a submersible’s catastrophic implosion that killed all five men aboard. 

The discovery effectively concluded a search for the missing Titan submersible that lost contact with its surface ship roughly an hour and 45 minutes after descending to the Titanic.

The loss of contact with the submersible sparked an international rescue operation as authorities scrambled to locate the vessel before air supply levels were expected to run out early Thursday. Read about some of the key vessels and equipment that were involved in search efforts.

The U.S. Navy detected what it suspected may have been an implosion within hours of the Titan submersible descending into the ocean to visit the Titanic wreckage. 

A U.S. defense official said the Navy began listening for the Titan immediately after the vessel lost communication with the mother ship, approximately an hour and 45 minutes into its mission Sunday morning.

The official said the Navy’s top secret acoustic detection system picked sounds that were consistent with either an explosion or an implosion near where the Titan was found on Thursday. 

The search for Titan, the missing OceanGate submersible, came to a tragic end on Thursday when search-and-rescue teams discovered a "debris field" on the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, where the crew was headed before losing contact with their surface vessel Sunday morning, as Fox News Digital reported earlier this afternoon.

"The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber. Upon this determination, we immediately notified the families," U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters. 

"On behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command, I offer my deepest condolences to the families."

Faith leaders reacted to the difficult and sad news.

The search for a missing tourist submersible carrying five men came to a tragic end Thursday after rescue officials discovered debris from the imploded vessel near the wreckage of the Titanic. 

Reactions poured in on social media shortly after the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed the debris field officials had found was the Titan submersible they had been searching for since Sunday. 

"Titanic" director James Cameron is speaking out after the search for the missing OceanGate Titan submersible came to a tragic end Thursday.

Cameron, 68, found the tragic story of the sub eerily similar to what happened to the infamous ship in 1912.

"Well, I've been down there many times," Cameron told ABC News on Thursday. "I've made 33 dives and I've actually calculated that I've spent more time on the ship than the captain did back in the day."

Josh Gates, a veteran explorer who previously raised concerns about the OceanGate sub before it was discovered imploded Thursday, called the catastrophe "an absolutely heartbreaking conclusion to the mission."

"Condolences to the families of PH Nargeolet, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood, & Stockton Rush."

The search for the missing Titanic tourist submersible took a tragic turn Thursday when the U.S. Coast Guard said a debris field found at the bottom of the ocean near the Titanic and the critical 96-hour mark passed when the vessel's oxygen supply was expected to run out.

The Coast Guard confirmed Thursday that the missing submersible imploded near the wreckage of the Titanic, killing all five passengers on board.

Rear Admiral John Mauger, the First Coast Guard District commander speaks during a press conference updating about the search of the missing OceanGate Expeditions submersible, which is carrying five people to explore the wreck of the sunken Titanic, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., June 22, 2023. (Reuters)

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed Thursday that a debris field is the missing Titanic tourist submersible that was carrying five passengers. All five on board are presumed dead.

Rear Admiral John Mauger, First Coast Guard District commander, said a remote operate vehicle from the Vessel Horizon Arctic discovered the tail cone of the Titan submersible approximately 1600 feet from the bow of the Titanic.

"The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber. Upon this determination, we immediately notified the families on behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command," Mauger said.

OceanGate Expeditions, the company behind the missing Titanic tourist submersible confirmed Thursday afternoon that the passengers on board are believed to have "sadly been lost."

"We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost," OceanGate said in a statement.

"These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew."

"This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss. The entire OceanGate family is deeply grateful for the countless men and women from multiple organizations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission. We appreciate their commitment to finding these five explorers, and their days and nights of tireless work in support of our crew and their families."

"This is a very sad time for the entire explorer community, and for each of the family members of those lost at sea. We respectfully ask that the privacy of these families be respected during this most painful time."

The statement came after the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed Thursday that a "debris field" has been found in the search for the missing submersible.

The Explorers Club told its members Thursday that a “debris field” found during a search of the missing Titanic tourist submersible “may be the landing frame and a rear cover of the tail instrument compartment” of the vessel lost on previous dives.

“We hear there may be additional debris, but no updated visuals of the submersible,” Richard Garriott wrote in an email to Explorers Club members. “We will all be watching the Coast Guard press conference for official news of the rescue. We are not the source for search and rescue. Any official updates should come from the Coast Guard.”

The U.S. Coast Guard was expected to give a 3 p.m. press conference to provide an update on the search for the missing submersible.

The Explorers Club is an international society of adventurers that included Hamish Harding, a U.K. aviator and millionaire who was one of five passengers on board the submersible that went missing Sunday.

Arthur Loibl, a former passenger on the Titan, was one of the first passengers to descend to the Titanic in a mini-submarine operated by OceanGate Expeditions. (Armin Weigel/picture alliance via Getty Images)

A former OceanGate Expeditions customer who took a trip to see the Titanic wreckage two years ago described the dive as a "kamikaze operation."

An international search and rescue operation is ongoing for five crew members on OceanGate's Titan sub, which went missing Sunday on a planned deep sea tourist expedition. Arthur Loibl, a retired German businessman and adventurer who went on the same trip in 2021, shared his experience with OceanGate in an interview with The Associated Press.

"You have to be a little bit crazy to do this sort of thing," Loibl said. 

He explained that the idea of touring the Titanic wreckage came to him on a trip to the South Pole in 2016. At the time, a Russian company was the only service offering videos for half a million dollars.

Washington state-based OceanGate announced its own Titanic operation a year later and Loibl seized the opportunity. He chartered a dive with OceanGate in 2019, paying a whopping $110,000, but that dive was canceled because the first submersible didn't survive testing.

In 2021 he went on a voyage that was successful along with OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet — who are now missing — along with two men from England.

"Imagine a metal tube a few meters long with a sheet of metal for a floor. You can’t stand. You can’t kneel. Everyone is sitting close to or on top of each other," Loibl told the AP. "You can’t be claustrophobic."

OceanGate's sub experienced technical difficulties on the dive, Loibl said. He described how lights were turned off to conserve energy during the 2.5-hour descent and ascent, with the only illumination coming from a glow stick.  

The dive was repeatedly delayed to fix a problem with the battery and the balancing weights. In total, the voyage took 10.5 hours.

Around noon E.T., the Coast Guard announced that "A debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic" and "Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information."

The Coast Guard is holding a press conference to reveal more about the discovery at 3 p.m. ET.

The five passengers on board the missing submarine have been identified as OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, British businessman and explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and Dawood's son Sulaiman Dawood. 

"Rush oversees OceanGate’s financial and engineering strategies and provides a clear vision for development of 4,000 meter (13,123 feet) and 6,000 meter (19,685 feet) capable crewed submersibles and their partner launch and recovery platforms which make OceanGate Inc the leading provider of crewed submersibles for charter and scientific research," OceanGate’s website says. 

The submarine began its journey to the Titanic on Sunday morning with 96 hours of oxygen on board, according to OceanGate’s website. 

Operators then lost contact with the vessel about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent. 

On Tuesday, around 1 p.m. ET, the U.S. Coast Guard estimated that there were about 40 to 41 hours of "breathable air" still available inside the vessel.  

By the Coast Guard’s estimate, that means oxygen would have run out inside the Titan sometime Thursday morning.

Equipment that was flown in by U.S. Air Force transport planes is loaded onto the offshore vessel Horizon Arctic on June 20, before its deployment to the search area. (Reuters/David Hiscock)

The Coast Guard has scheduled a press conference for 3 p.m. ET in Boston, Massachusetts following the announcement that an underwater "debris field" has been found in the search for OceanGate's missing Titan submarine, which vanished Sunday with five people onboard.

"The Coast Guard is scheduled to hold a press briefing to discuss findings from the Horizon Arctic’s remotely operated vehicle near the Titanic," it said in a press release.

Around five hours ago, the Coast Guard said the Horizon Arctic's ROV "reached the sea floor and began its search for the missing sub."

The Titan submarine vanished Sunday morning with five people onboard: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, British businessman and explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman Dawood. 

The Titan lost contact with its surface vessel, the Polar Prince, around 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive Sunday morning, about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and around 400 miles southeast of St John's, in Canada's Newfoundland.

The U.S. Coast Guard is heading a unified command that involved commercial assets, research vehicles and military counterparts from Canada, France and the United Kingdom.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Canadian pilots picked up repeated sounds during their search.

Fox News' Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

An undated photo of the missing OceanGate Titan submarine. (OceanGate/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The Coast Guard has announced Thursday that a "debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic. 

"Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information," it added.

Underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) were deployed Thursday morning to search the Atlantic Ocean floor for OceanGate's Titan submarine, which vanished Sunday morning with five passengers onboard.

The Coast Guard earlier said the "Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic has deployed an ROV that has reached the sea floor and began its search for the missing sub."

The French vessel L'Atalante also deployed their ROV, it added.

The Titan submarine vanished Sunday morning with five people onboard: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, British businessman and explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman Dawood. 

The oxygen inside the Titan was estimated by the Coast Guard to run out on Thursday morning. 

BOSTON – As an international search-and-rescue mission to find the missing OceanGate Titan sub took place this week involving militaries and commercial assets, authorities and subject matter experts have repeatedly referred to remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).

"The acronym Remotely Operated Vehicle, the original use is underwater robot that is completely operated by a human operator," explained Dr. Brendan Englot, an expert on undersea robotics at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey. "The analogy might be like the kind of person who operates a piece of construction equipment or a shipping crane – a very high-stakes, high-precision remote operation task, [and] highly trained operator."

Advanced ROVs are "kind of like a drone," he said, except they are controlled manually.

Experts say that ROVs are the best bet to attempt a rescue of the OceanGate Titan submersible, which vanished Sunday during a dive toward the Titanic shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean, about 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

On board are OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush; British businessman turned adventurer Hamish Harding, father-and-son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, who are members of one of Pakistan’s wealthiest families; and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a former French navy officer and leading Titanic expert.

An undated photo of the now-missing OceanGate Titan submarine. (OceanGate/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Capt. David Marquet, a former U.S. Navy submarine commander, told Fox News’ ‘America’s Newsroom’ Thursday that it is “devastating news” that a Navy deep-sea recovery crane system hasn’t been deployed yet in the search for the missing OceanGate Titan sub. 

Marquet spoke after Fox News’ Mike Tobin, reporting from St. John’s, Newfoundland – where the search effort is based out of – said the Navy FADOSS system has arrived in the Canadian maritime province but the latest information he received is that a ship hasn’t been selected yet to mount it. 

Attaching that Navy crane to a ship takes 24 hours, according to Tobin. 

“The Navy has a system called FADOSS – it stands for Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System -- and it’s designed to be flown there,” Marquet said. “The airplanes that arrived [in Newfoundland] a couple days ago I had thought that it was already on a ship on its way out there. 

“That is the system – it's a big cable on a spool, it would go down and that would be able to pull the submarine up pretty rapidly, maybe half an hour, maybe an hour once it’s found,” Marquet continued. “In the absence of this system, we need a really heavy duty [remotely operated vehicle] ROV which may be able to grapple onto the mini sub and then sort of piggyback it up to the surface.” 

The five missing passengers, from left to right: Sulaiman Dawood, Shahzada Dawood, Stockton Rush, Paul-Henry Nargeolet and Hamish Harding. (Engro Corporation, REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton, @OceanGateExped/Twitter, Felix Kunze/Blue Origin via AP, Ocean Gate/ Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The search for the missing OceanGate Titan submarine is in the middle of its fifth day.

The five passengers on board the missing submarine have been identified as OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, British businessman and explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and Dawood's son Sulaiman Dawood. 

The submarine began its journey to the Titanic on Sunday morning with 96 hours of oxygen on board, according to OceanGate’s website. 

Operators then lost contact with the vessel about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent. 

It has not been heard from since and its current whereabouts remain unknown.

For the first time Thursday, the search is including underwater robots that are combing the floor of the Atlantic Ocean for Titan.

The U.S. Coast Guard tweeted this morning that the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic has deployed a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) "that has reached the sea floor and began its search for the missing sub." 

"The French vessel L'Atalante has just deployed their ROV," the Coast Guard added around 8 a.m. ET.

It described weather conditions at the search site as having winds at 14 mph with gusts of up to 19 mph. 

"Sea state is 4-5ft swells with an air temp of 50°f," the Coast Guard also says.

The Titan submersible, operated by OceanGate Expeditions to explore the wreckage of the sunken Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland, dives in an undated photograph. (OceanGate Expeditions via Reuters/Reuters Photos)

A co-founder of OceanGate Expeditions spoke out and gave reason to hope the five-man crew of the missing Titan submersible can still be rescued, including CEO Stockton Rush. 

Guillermo Söhnlein founded OceanGate with Rush in 2009 to offer pricey deep-sea tours to the extremely wealthy in manned submersibles capable of diving up to 13,123 feet. Söhnlein left the company in 2013, turning it over to Rush and reducing his role to a minority shareholder, but the two have kept in touch and last spoke a couple of weeks before the ill-fated Titanic expedition. 

In a statement posted on Facebook, Söhnlein broke his silence about the missing crew and encouraged the public and the media to remain hopeful for the crew's rescue and avoid speculation about what happened.

"For the past three days, I have watched from afar as hundreds of dedicated professionals worked tirelessly to find and rescue the crew of the research submersible, Titan, with which communication was lost during its science expedition to the wreck of the Titanic. The pilot is my co-founder and friend, Stockton Rush," Söhnlein wrote.

"Today will be a critical day in this search and rescue mission, as the sub's life support supplies are starting to run low. I'm certain that Stockton and the rest of the crew realized days ago that the best thing they can do to ensure their rescue is to extend the limits of those supplies by relaxing as much as possible. I firmly believe that the time window available for their rescue is longer than what most people think," he said.

Equipment that was flown in by U.S. Air Force transport planes is loaded onto the offshore vessel Horizon Arctic, before its deployment to the search area of a missing OceanGate Expeditions submersible which had been carrying five people to explore the sunken Titanic, in the port of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, on June 20, 2023. (Reuters/David Hiscock)

Rear Admiral John Mauger told NBC's 'Today' Show Thursday morning that the unified command in charge of the search for the missing OceanGate Titan submarine "made some decisions to prioritize" which equipment could be used "based on gear that was closest to the site."

His comments come after Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) tweeted earlier this morning that "I am still hearing reports that the US Government unnecessarily delayed the deployment of proper search & recovery equipment from reaching the Titanic, and now time is running out."

Richard Garriott, the president of the Explorers Club, also tweeted earlier this week that the Magellan underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) "is en route (should have been accepted sooner)."

"We have been really overwhelmed by all of the support that has been provided by the international community with regard to this complex search and rescue effort," Mauger said Thursday when asked about the criticism. "And so when we notified of the missing submersible and brought together the unified command without a pre-planned response plan, without pre-staged gear, we really had to start from scratch and bring all of the capability that was available to bear on this problem. And so we made some decisions to prioritize based on gear that was closest to the site and could get there."

"And so now right now we have the ROVs operating on the bottom floor that have the ability to search and have the ability to attach rescue lines. We have medical personnel moving into the site as well with deep sea medical expertise and a hyperbaric chamber as well so we are going to continue with the search and rescue efforts," he added.

The Victor 6000 -- an unmanned French robot which can dive up to 6,000 meters -- is searching for Titan. (Ifremer handout via EYEPRESS)

The U.S. Coast Guard tweeted Thursday that the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic has deployed a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) "that has reached the sea floor and began its search for the missing sub." 

It is the first time during the search that a vessel is combing the floor of the Atlantic Ocean for the Titan submarine.  

"The French vessel L'Atalante has just deployed their ROV," it also said.

Previous search efforts have involved the use of aircraft and sonar. 

The Titan submarine vanished Sunday morning with five people onboard: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, British businessman and explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman Dawood. 

The oxygen inside the Titan is estimated by the Coast Guard to run out on Thursday morning. 

OceanGate says on its website that the sub has 96 hours of life support for a five-person crew. 

The cause of the sub’s disappearance remains unknown and more ships have been arriving throughout the week at the search site. 

The missing OceanGate Titan submarine is expected to run out of oxygen by Thursday morning, according to Coast Guard estimates.

In a statement issued Wednesday night, the Coast Guard said the sub "was launched at 8 a.m. EDT [Sunday] and expected to resurface at 3 p.m., but one hour and 45 minutes into their dive, they lost contact with the Polar Prince."

On OceanGate's website, it lists the Titan sub as having 96 hours of life support for a crew of five passengers. 

The vessel has vanished in the Atlantic Ocean after diving down to view the wreckage of the Titanic.

The Coast Guard also said Wednesday night that "Underwater sounds have been detected in the search area, resulting in the redirection of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations to explore the origin. 

"These recordings have been shared with the U.S. Navy for analysis to help guide future search efforts," the Coast Guard added.

The source of these sounds has not been confirmed.

The Coast Guard also said an area twice the size of Connecticut has been searched so far, 900 nautical miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

On Thursday morning, the Canadian Coast Guard's Ann Harvey and "Motor Vessel Horizon Arctic (ROV) have arrived on scene and are conducting search patterns in search of submersible," the Coast Guard announced.

Isidor and Ida Straus died in the Titanic disaster. Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/OFF/AFP via Getty Images

The wife of Stockton Rush, the OceanGate CEO who went missing Sunday while surveying the Titanic wreckage, is a descendant of two passengers who died on the Titanic, according to a report.

Stockton’s wife Wendy Rush is a direct descendant of Isidor and Ida Straus, who were among more than 1,500 people who died when the iconic vessel struck an iceberg and sank into the sea during a voyage through the Atlantic in 1912, according to the New York Times. 

The Straus couple were two wealthy first-class passengers who had been married for more than 40 years.

Survivors recalled Ida Straus refusing a spot on a lifeboat when the ship began to sink. Instead, she chose to remain with her husband in their final moments, the Times reported. 

Their story was included in James Cameron’s fictional 1997 blockbuster “Titanic,” depicted as an elderly couple who chose to remain in bed together as their room filled with water, per the report.

A 2022 promotional video from OceanGate Expeditions, the company behind the missing Titanic tourist sub, features testimonials from previous explorers, including one who notably describes when the submersible landed on the seabed, kicking up sediment.  

"We landed on the seabed, saw that little mist of sediment come up," says one passenger. "It was quite a feeling because we knew that we were close to an object and we had come down on an almost perfect descent the entire dive."

Publicly traded TechnipFMC has sent one of its pipelay vessels to help in the urgent search and rescue mission to locate the submersible that recently went missing while taking five people down to see the Titanic shipwreck.

The company’s vessel, called Deep Energy, started doing remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations on Tuesday in the area where the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and others are searching for the OceanGate Expeditions-owned Titan submersible, according to a USCG press release. It had reached the scene the same day, something a TechnipFMC spokesperson confirmed to FOX Business.

The U.S. Coast Guard says more equipment and personnel were en route as officials raced against the clock to find the missing Titanic tourist submersible before its oxygen supply ran out early Thursday morning.

The following assets are en route and expected to arrive at St. John's Wednesday evening: Canadian CGS Ann Harvey, Canadian CGS Terry Fox, Motor Vessel Horizon Arctic (ROV), French Research Vessel L’Atalante (ROV), His Majesty's Canadian Ship Glace Bay, Air National Guard C-130, and an ROV from Magellan.

USCG says "underwater sounds" detected in the search area have resulted in the redirection of ROV operations to explore the origin and have been shared with the U.S. Navy for analysis.

As military and civilian fleets scour the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New England and Canada for signs of the missing  OceanGate Titan submersible, people around the world are hoping that sounds picked up Tuesday are evidence the international crew is still alive.

Dr. Jeff Karson, professor emeritus of earth and environmental sciences at Syracuse University, worries that efforts to triangulate the location of unidentified sounds picked up by search-and-rescue crews on Tuesday and Wednesday could take too long – and divert resources to the wrong place if the source turns out to be something other than trapped crew members banging on the hull of the ship.

"I'm worried that there are bogus sounds out there and sounds that are inadvertently drawing the search away from the area that needs to be investigated," Karson said. 

A lawyer and veteran diver who nearly boarded the missing Titanic tourist submersible is drawing attention to a decade-old video showing the retrieval of Apollo 11 rocket engines from a depth greater than the wreckage of the Titanic. 

The video, shared by David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate Expeditions, shows Bezos Expeditions recovering the Apollo 11 rocket engines at a depth of 14,000 feet. The wreckage of the Titanic, meanwhile, is at a depth of approximately 12,600 feet. 

Hamish Harding, one of five passengers who are on board the missing Titanic tourist submersible, belongs to an international society of adventurers that includes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, famed astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and veteran explorer Josh Gates. 

Harding, a British millionaire, known for his exploratory escapades across the globe, is a founding member of the Board of Trustees of The Explorers Club. A resident of Dubai, he also chairs the club’s Middle East Chapter. 

Veteran explorer Josh Gates, who hosts a TV series investigating myths and legends around the world, revealed on Twitter Wednesday that the missing OceanGate sub "did not perform well" when he went on a dive aboard the vessel himself.

The 21-foot deep-sea submersible vanished Sunday morning during an attempt to reach the shipwrecked Titanic, which sank in the Atlantic on the way to New York from England in 1912.

Gates, who hosts "Expedition Unknown" on Discovery, had gone with Stockton Rush, the OceanGate CEO who is now among five missing along with the Titan sub, on a test dive before the vehicle's first visit to the Titanic site.

The equipment being used in the search for a missing Titanic tourist submersible is among the "finest" and "most capable in the world," according to Sean Leet, chief executive of Canadian Horizon Maritime company.

The Canadian-based company is the co-owner of the Polar Prince, the ship that was chartered to take the Titan submersible to the Titanic wreckage before it went missing while descending. 

Leet gave his assessment of rescue efforts during a Wednesday afternoon press conference, less than a day before the submersible’s oxygen supply is expected to run out. 

USCG

Aerial footage from the U.S. Coast Guard shows the Bahamian research vessel, Deep Energy, helping search for the submersible Titan on Tuesday, June 20, 2023.

The missing submersible lost contact with its mother ship on Sunday while descending to the wreck of the Titanic. Rescue officials say their oxygen supply is expect to run out by Thursday morning.

OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush, who is aboard the missing submersible, once explained why he preferred not to hire "50-year-old White guys" with military experience to pilot his company's vessels. 

Rush said he valued captains who were "inspirational" over experience, noting that "anybody can drive the sub," which is controlled with a $30 video game controller.  

"When I started the business, one of the things you'll find, there are other sub-operators out there, but they typically have gentlemen who are ex-military submariners, and you'll see a whole bunch of 50-year-old White guys," Rush told Teledyne Marine in a 2020 Zoom interview.

Josh Gates, the host of a variety of TV adventure shows, tweeted Wednesday, "To those asking, Titan did not perform well on my dive. 

"Ultimately, I walked away from a huge opportunity to film Titanic due to my safety concerns w/ the @OceanGate platform," he added. "There's more to the history and design of Titan that has not been made public -- much of it concerning."

Gates tweeted that he "had the unique opportunity" to dive in the now-missing OceanGate Titan sub with company CEO Stockton Rush "in preparation for its maiden mission to Titanic."

"I pray for a positive outcome to the rescue efforts of those aboard, including fellow Explorers Club member Hamish Harding," he said.

The Titan submarine remains missing Wednesday afternoon after it vanished during a dive to the Titanic wreckage site on Sunday.

Rush and Harding are two of the five passengers onboard the Titan that are missing.

U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick said Wednesday that the ongoing search for the missing Titan submarine is still a "search and rescue mission."

"We are smack dab in the middle of search and rescue and we'll continue to put every available asset that we have in an effort to find the Titan and the crew members," he told reporters in Boston, Massachusetts.

"I don't know whether it's operable or whether it's sitting on the ocean floor or whether it's in the sea column or whether it's in the surface. You know, it's all speculation," Frederick later said. "And we're just we're just not in the business of speculation. We're in the business of searching and we're putting everything we can with the data."

He also indicated that the Coast Guard isn't sure when the search effort will be suspended.

"You know, the Coast Guard prosecutes search and rescue cases on a daily basis. And sometimes we don't find what we're looking for. And you have to you have to carefully consider all of the factors. And there are a lot of factors to consider," he said. "And then after you consider all of those factors, sometimes you're in a position you have to make a tough decision. We're not there yet, but if we continue to search, potentially we could be at that point. But again, we're not there yet. And that's a discussion that we will have with the family long before I'm going to discuss that here publicly."

U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick told reporters Wednesday that the Coast Guard isn't sure what the underwater noises a Canadian P-3 aircraft picked up in the Titan search area are.

"We don't know what they are," he said. "The good news is what I can tell you is we're searching in the area where the noises were detected and we'll continue to do so."

The Coast Guard posted on Twitter early Wednesday morning that a "Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises in the search area."

The Coast Guard said the detection of the underwater sounds in the designated search area prompted investigators to deploy a remotely operated vehicle to relocate and investigate the origin of the unusual noises.

"It was my understanding that the P-3 had heard some noises today as well," Frederick revealed.

The noises were described as "banging noises" by Carl Hartsfield of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

"This is a search and rescue mission 100 percent," Frederick also said. "We are smack dab in the middle of search and rescue and we'll continue to put every available asset that we have in an effort to to find the Titan and the crewmembers."

Coast Guard officials speak Wednesday, June 21 about the search for the OceanGate Titan submarine. (Fox News)

U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick says the search for the missing OceanGate Titan submarine remains a "incredibly complex search operation requiring both surface and subsurface elements."

"The location of the search 900 miles east of Cape Cod and 400 miles southeast of Saint John's, makes it exceptionally difficult to mobilize large amounts of equipment quickly," he said.

"We currently have five surface assets searching for the Titan, and we expect ten total surface assets to search in the next 24 to 48 hours," Frederick continued.

He said the surface search has now covered an area twice the size of the state of Connecticut.

"We also have to factor in the ever changing weather conditions, currents and sea states that expand the search area every hour," Frederick also said.

The OceanGate Titan submarine vanished Sunday morning during a dive to visit the wreckage of the Titanic.

"Again, our thoughts and prayers are with the crew of the Titan and their loved ones," Frederick said. "We will continue to work as hard and as quickly as possible in an effort to locate them."

A former passenger who visited the Titanic wreck site onboard OceanGate’s now-missing Titan submersible craft says everyone involved in the deep sea journey was "intimately informed" how much of a "dangerous mission" it was. 

Fred Hagen spoke to "Fox & Friends" Wednesday morning as the Coast Guard estimates there is less than 24 hours of oxygen remaining in the Titan, which vanished Sunday on an expedition to visit what remains of the Titanic. 

"There were safety protocols in place. I know there is a big controversy now that there has been a catastrophe, people are second-guessing and wondering why there weren’t backup systems," said Haden, a businessman and explorer from Pennsylvania. "We were all told – intimately informed – that this was a dangerous mission that could result in death and injury. So that was well understood.

"We were versed in how the sub operated, we were versed in various protocols – but it’s not a safe operation inherently," he added. "And that is part of research and development and exploration and experimentation." 

Hagen also said, "If the Wright brothers had crashed on their first flight, they would have still left the bonds of earth and they would have crashed. They had no backup system and Stockton Rush is a visionary who is trying to democratize the depths, trying to open up the ocean, and that was not possible without risk." 

Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, is one of the five people currently missing aboard the vessel.

The weather forecast for the OceanGate Titan submarine search area. (FOX Weather)

The expected weather for the remaining workweek does not appear to be a factor in search and rescue efforts for the missing OceanGate Titan submarine.

While there are a few chances of scattered showers over the next few days, the FOX Forecast Center expects both wind and seas to have minimal impacts.

The Coast Guard's 1st District, located in Boston, said the weather on scene saw winds at 23 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. The sea state includes 6- to 7-foot swells with an air temperature of 50 degrees.

As the Northern Hemisphere enters summer, weather features from both the west and the south can impact the region but fortunately, there a no major low-pressure systems on the horizon.

In fact, a ridge of high pressure is expected to remain in control leading to the search region being free of disruptive weather and tropical cyclone concerns.

The closest tropical cyclone activity is expected to remain over 1,000 miles away in the Caribbean and central Atlantic over the next five days.

The USCG has not stated how long they expect search and rescue efforts to last and so far have not come across any signs of the missing vessel.

Search and rescue teams have been sweeping an area of the Atlantic Ocean the size of Connecticut in the search for the missing OceanGate Titan sub, which vanished during an attempt to dive to the wreck of the Titanic 400 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada. (US Coast Guard)

BOSTON – Three new vessels arrived "on-scene" in the Atlantic Ocean Wednesday morning to join search and rescue efforts for the missing OceanGate Titan sub as the estimated oxygen supply on board continues to dwindle.

The U.S. Coast Guard said the new vessels bring additional tools to scan the ocean floor as they race against the clock to save the five people onboard: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British businessman Hamish Harding, father-and-son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, who are members of one of Pakistan’s wealthiest families, and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a former French navy officer and leading Titanic expert.

"The John Cabot has side-scanning sonar capabilities and is conducting search patterns alongside the Skandi Vinland and the Atlantic Merlin," the Coast Guard said.

The John Cabot is a Canadian coast guard vessel, the Atlantic Merlin is a Canadian remotely operated vehicle (ROV), and the Skandi Vinland is a commercial ROV, authorities said. Several additional assets were still headed toward the search area.

This file image provided by OceanGate shows the Titan submersible descending into the ocean. (OceanGate Expeditions)

The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday it is holding another press conference at 1 p.m. ET. regarding the search for OceanGate's missing Titan submarine.

In a tweet, it said in the search area for the missing Titan submarine, "winds [are] at 23mph with gusts up to 30mph." 

"Sea state is 6-7ft swells with an air temp of 50°f," it added.

The search for the missing Titan submarine is now in its fourth day.

The Coast Guard on Tuesday afternoon estimated there were about 40 hours of oxygen remaining onboard the Titan.

By their estimates, the vessel will run out of "breathable air" by Thursday morning eastern standard time.

The Titan disappeared Sunday after diving down to the Titanic wreck site in the northern Atlantic Ocean.

OceanGate on its website says the Titan is equipped with 96 hours of life support for five crew members.

There are now less than 24 hours of oxygen onboard the missing OceanGate Titan submarine, according to an estimate from the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard said Tuesday afternoon that there were just 40 hours left of "breathable air" inside the vessel.

By their estimate, it should run out by Thursday morning eastern standard time.

The vessel launched its journey Sunday with 96 hours of oxygen onboard.

So far, the search of an area greater than the size of the state of Connecticut has turned up no signs of Titan, according to the Coast Guard.

A Canadian aircraft deployed to assist with rescue efforts has picked up "underwater noises" in the vessel's search area, the Coast Guard also said.

"Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises in the search area," the USCG in the Northeast region announced on Twitter early Wednesday morning.

The Coast Guard said the detection of the underwater sounds in the designated search area prompted investigators to deploy remotely operated vehicle to relocate and investigate the origin of the unusual noises.

Though the search efforts "yielded negative results," the USCG said the operation continues.

Fox News' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

The U.S. Coast Guard announced additional assets were en route to assist in the search and rescue operation for the OceanGate Titan submersible that went missing during a visit to view the wreckage of the Titanic.

“This is a complex search effort which requires multiple agencies with subject matter expertise and specialized equipment which we have gained through the unified command,” said Capt. Jamie Frederick, the response coordinator from the First Coast Guard District.

The U.S. search effort remains in close coordination with Canadian forces, the captain emphasized.

Frederick added: “While the Coast Guard has assumed the role of Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator, we do not have all of the necessary expertise and equipment required in a search of this nature. The Unified Command brings that expertise and additional capability together to maximize effort in solving this complex problem.” 

The 21-foot submersible, with five people on board, lost contact approximately 900 nautical miles East of Cape Cod, Massachusetts on Sunday, June 18. 

The assets include: 

• Canadian CGS John Cabot
• Canadian CGS Ann Harvey
• Canadian CGS Terry Fox
• Canadian CGS Atlantic Merlin (ROV) 
• Motor Vessel Horizon Arctic 
• Commercial Vessel Skandi Vinland (ROV) 
• French Research Vessel L’Atalante (ROV) 
• His Majesty's Canadian Ship Glace Bay (mobile decompression chamber and medical personnel) 

Richard Garriott, President of the Explorers Club, released a statement late Tuesday evening regarding the ongoing Titanic search and rescue mission, expressing optimism that the passengers of the missing OceanGate submersible will be found.

U.K. billionaire Hamish Harding, one of the tourists aboard the missing sub, is a founding member of the Explorers Club and on its board of trustees.

“Members of the Explorers Club far and wide rallied today to make sure the Titanic expedition search and rescue team is fully aware of the capabilities and experience club members and affiliates are ready to provide, in particular the UK-based Magellan’s 6,000 meter certified ROVs, which have been at the Titanic site many times,” Garriott said.

“We are so grateful for the U.S. Coast Guard, and other international teams and commercial operators doing everything they can to help find the Titanic expedition submersible,” he continued.

Garriott then said members have “cause for hope” amid the ongoing search effort.

OceanGate’s Titan submersible has been missing since Sunday morning.

Deep-sea vehicle industry insiders say the combination of the enormous depth, the lack of communication and the rapidly dwindling window of opportunity make rescue of the five people aboard the OceanGate highly unlikely.

The OceanGate submersible was bringing its passengers to see the wreckage of the Titanic, about 12,500 below sea level, when it went missing on Sunday. 

Tom Zaller, president and CEO of Imagine Exhibitions and producer of Titanic: The Exhibition, sat down with Fox News Digital on Tuesday to discuss ongoing efforts to search for the Titan, a tourist submersible that disappeared on its way to visit the wreckage of the Titanic. 

Zaller, who has visited the Titanic wreckage on another vessel, said had spoken with OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush before he and four other people on board went missing.

Uncertainty, panic and the need to conserve oxygen are all part of what five travelers aboard the missing Titanic submersible are likely having to manage as they wait for rescue, a former Navy psychologist told Fox News.

"Certainly there is sheer panic where their heart is racing and they're having trouble breathing … or they feel like they are going to lose their mind," said licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Justin D'Arienzo. "And certainly in a cramped space that is dark, like this situation, that can be exponentially worse."

Magellan LTD, a company that created full-sized digital scans of the Titanic, says it has been contacted by OceanGate to help with finding the company's missing tourist submersible.

"Magellan is 100% focused on supporting the rescue mission to recover the submersible. We were contacted by OceanGate early Monday, UK time, June 19, and immediately offered our knowledge of the specific site and also our expertise operating at depth considerably in advance of what is required for this incident. OceanGate instructed us to mobilise and “use the means necessary to fly the needed equipment and crew to St. John’s, Newfoundland as soon as possible, stating time is of the essence," the company said on its website.

"We have been working full-time with UK and US agencies to secure the necessary air support to move our specialist equipment and support crew. We are ready to support, and we are fully mobilized to help. Magellan does not wish to comment on any specific media report. We also recognize the important role the media plays in disseminating accurate information to the public. We kindly request your cooperation in responsibly reporting on this incident, ensuring that the information shared is accurate and verified."

“U. S. Transportation Command is supporting the search effort with (3) C-17 aircraft that are transporting commercial, rescue-related cargo and equipment from Buffalo, NY to St Johns, Newfoundland," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said Tuesday.

"As of 4:30 pm eastern time today, all three aircraft have departed Buffalo, and the last aircraft is scheduled to land at St. John shortly.”

OceanGate, the company behind the submersible that went missing while visiting the wreckage of the Titanic, was once the subject of a massive lawsuit from an employee who alleged he was fired because he had raised safety concerns over deep the vessel could descend.  

The former OceanGate employee, David Lochridge, refused to greenlight manned tests of the submersible over safety concerns. The Washington-based company later sued Lochridge for disclosing confidential information. 

Click here to read more.

“The DOD is assisting in search operations. As of yesterday, there were two C-130s that conducted search and rescue flights and conducted a search flight over the area. By later today an Air National Guard C-130 will also join the search and conduct a search flight over the area. So, by the end of today, we would have committed three C-130s to conducting search and rescue flights,” Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said Tuesday.

“In addition to that, the Navy has been in touch with the Coast Guard and is working to provide personnel such as subject matter experts and assets as quickly as possible.” 

News of OceanGate Expedition's missing submarine exploded on Monday as the U.S. and Canadian coast guards sprang into action with search and rescue missions.

Here is the timeline of how OceanGate's Titan submersible went missing during its descent to the wreckage of the Titanic.

Click here to read more.

Technical specifications of the OceanGate Titan submarine. (Fox News)

The U.S. Coast Guard estimated Tuesday afternoon that the missing OceanGate Titan submarine should run out of breathable air by Thursday morning.

The Logitech F710 video game controller which operates the OceanGate Titan submarine. (Joby Sessions/PC Gamer Magazine/Future via Getty Images/OceanGate Expeditions)

The Titan submarine OceanGate has been charging tourists around $250,000 each to ride in is operated by an inexpensive video game controller, its CEO revealed in a video interview last year.

Stockton Rush, during a segment aired by "CBS Sunday Morning," said "we run the whole thing with this game controller" while holding up what appears to be a modified Logitech F710 wireless gamepad. 

The device first debuted in 2011, according to the gaming website Dexerto, and a refurbished version of it currently retails for $30 on Amazon. 

In the CBS video, Rush’s version appears to have elongated, modified sticks to help control the Titan submarine. 

The Coast Guard said Tuesday that it estimates that there is around 40 to 41 hours of oxygen left onboard OceanGate's missing Titan submarine, which vanished Sunday during a dive to the Titanic wreck site.

U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Fredrick said as soon as the Coast Guard received a report Sunday evening of the OceanGate Titan submarine's disappearance,"we immediately launched search efforts.

"We flew assets that evening and we've continued constant surface and air assets searches since that point," he added.

Capt. Jamie Fredrick, U.S. Coast Guard First District Response Coordinator, told reporters Tuesday that an ongoing search with the assistance of the Canadian Coast Guard in an area "larger than the state of Connecticut" has not yet turned up any signs of OceanGate's missing Titan submarine.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the crew and the families and their loved ones," he said.

Fredrick said there is about 41 hours left of breathable air onboard the Titan, based on estimates.

An OceanGate spokesperson tells Fox News' Tamara Gitt that the company's CEO, Stockton Rush, is among the five people who are now missing after its Titan submarine vanished during a dive Sunday to the wreck site of the Titanic.

“OceanGate can confirm that CEO Stockton Rush is aboard the submersible as a member of the crew," the spokesperson said.

In this photo posted to Instagram, the crew of the RMS Titanic Expedition Mission V can be seen shortly after launching on Sunday, June 18, 2023. (@actionaviation/Instagram)

New images have emerged showing what appear to be the OceanGate Titan submarine’s final moments on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean before it disappeared underwater during a dive to the Titanic wreck site. 

The photos taken Sunday were posted on Instagram by Action Aviation, whose chairman Hamish Harding is among the five people missing on board the vessel. 

Images appear to show Titan floating on a platform just prior to it being launched into the water. 

As of late Tuesday morning, the vessel's whereabouts remain unknown. 

A general view of the United States Coast Guard Base in Boston, Massachusetts on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. (Fox News Digital)

The U.S. Coast Guard Northeast has announced Tuesday morning that 10,000 square miles have now been searched in the hunt for the missing OceanGate Titan submarine, which vanished Sunday during a dive to the Titanic wreck site.

"A Canadian Aircraft P3 Aurora has arrived on scene to conduct sonar searches," it said. "The R/V Polar Prince and R/V Deep Energy are continuing their surface searches."

Shahzada Dawood, left, is missing along with his son aboard OceanGate's Titan submersible. (Fox News)

One of Pakistan's richest men and his son are aboard the OceanGate submarine that went missing while on a visit to the wreck of the Titanic, family members confirmed.

Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are among five people aboard OceanGate Expedition's Titan submersible, which descended to the wreck of the Titanic on Sunday only to lose contact with the mother ship after nearly two hours.

"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 while granting the family privacy at this time," the family said in a statement. "The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members."

Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate, poses in Times Square in New York City in April 2017. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

The CEO of the company whose submersible craft has vanished with five people on board during a tourist dive to explore the wreckage of the Titanic revealed in a podcast interview late last year that he had a worry of objects preventing the vessel from returning to the surface. 

Stockton Rush of OceanGate addressed the concern during a November episode of "Unsung Science" titled "Back to Titanic Part 1," which featured a discussion of his company’s now-missing Titan sub.

"So, once we’re down there, what are the things to worry about?" host David Pogue, a "CBS Sunday Morning" correspondent, asked Rush. 

"What I worry about most are things that will stop me from being able to get to the surface. Overhangs, fish nets, entanglement hazards," Rush said. "And, that’s just a technique, piloting technique. It’s pretty clear -- if it’s an overhang, don’t go under it. If there is a net, don’t go near it. So, you can avoid those if you are just slow and steady." 

A rescue operation remains underway deep in the Atlantic Ocean in search of the technologically advanced submersible vessel carrying five people to document the wreckage of the Titanic. OceanGate Expeditions via AP

The Engro Corporation released a statement early Sunday morning identifying two passengers on the submersible that went missing Sunday during a survey of the sunken Titanic.

"On Sunday, June 18, Mr. Shahzada Dawood, Vice Chairman of Engro Corporation Limited, along with his son, Suleman, embarked on a journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. All that we know so far is that contact was lost with their submersible craft," the company said in a statement.

"There is limited information available beyond this that we know, and we humbly request that speculation and theorization is avoided," the statement read.

It continued: "A rescue effort is being jointly led by multiple government agencies and deep-sea companies to find and bring home Shahzada, Suleman, and all aboard. Prayers for their safety and privacy for the family are requested during this testing time. We, at Engro, remain in prayer for their swift and safe return, and will share any updates we may have as and when they come.

The submersible was believed to be carrying five passengers when it went missing some 435 miles south of St. John's, Newfoundland.

French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, considered one of the leading experts on the Titanic, is feared to be among five people who went missing on a tourist submersible visiting the wreckage. 

Nargelot was named in a Facebook post by fellow voyager, Hamish Harding, a U.K. billionaire and aviator, a day before the mission. 

Read more about Paul-Henry Nargeolet.

“For some time, we have been unable to establish communications with one of our submersible exploration vehicles which is currently visiting the wreck site of the Titanic . Our entire focus is on the wellbeing of the crew and every step possible is being taken to bring the five crew members back safely. We are deeply grateful for the urgent and extensive assistance we are receiving from multiple government agencies and deep-sea companies as we seek to reestablish contact with the submersible. We pray for the safe return of the crew and passengers, and we will provide updates as they are available.”

A U.S. congressman who served as a nuclear submarine officer in the U.S. Navy is calling for the force to take action in the search for a missing tourist submersible destined for the wreckage of the Titanic that disappeared on Sunday.

"I have 500 days at sea on a submarine, so my heart really goes out to the missing crewmen and their families. The United States Navy needs to step up and do everything possible to help locate that submarine as quickly as possible," Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital Monday evening.

The five-person tourist submersible that’s at the center of an ongoing search and rescue effort after being reported missing while on an exploration trip to the wreck of the Titanic is capable of diving to depths more than two miles deep and is operated by a video game-style controller. 

OceanGate Expedition’s submersible, known as Titan, lost contact on Sunday morning about an hour and 45 minutes after it departed from its launch ship, the Canadian research vessel Polar Prince, according to the Coast Guard. The U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards are participating in the search and rescue effort and are being aided by other vessels in the area of the Titanic wreck located about 370 miles south-by-southeast of St. John’s, Newfoundland, and 900 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Here is what you need to know about the missing Titanic exploration submersible.

A career scientist in the submersible vehicle industry fears the worst — a catastrophic implosion — regarding the fate of the OceanGate, he indicated in an interview on Monday evening.

The submersible with five people on board has been missing since Sunday while bringing tourists to explore the wreck of the Titanic. 

Time is running out for three tourists, a researcher and one pilot aboard a submersible surveying the Titanic's wreckage at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean. The 21-foot submersible only has 72 more hours of life support capability left for the five aboard after it went missing Sunday during rough weather and high seas. 

"We were notified yesterday afternoon, and we began immediately to mobilize assets to search both the surface and the water search from the air, and then also launch equipment that would enable us to detect any vessels under the water as well," Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard told FOX News' John Roberts.

French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet, feared to be among those missing in the Titanic tourist submersible, gave an ominous statement to the Irish Examiner about deep-sea exploration in 2019.

"If you are 11m or 11km down, if something bad happens, the result is the same," Nargeolet told the outlet. "When you're in very deep water, you're dead before you realize that something is happening, so it's just not a problem."

A lawyer with more than 40 years of diving experiencing posted on Facebook that he was meant to be on a now-missing submersible taking tourists to see the wreckage of the Titanic.

"I was supposed to be on this expedition and, indeed, on this dive, but I had to cancel to attend to another urgent client matter," Concannon wrote. "Last night, I was called and asked to provide whatever assistance I could to ensure the safe return of everyone in the sub."

Rory Golden, a maritime explorer and the first Irish diver to visit the site of RMS Titanic in 2000, is reportedly on the surface ship connected to a missing tourist submersible missing since Sunday.

"I'm OK," Golden wrote on Facebook. "We are all focused on board here for our friends. "

The commercial submersible that went missing carrying five passengers while touring the Titanic shipwreck presents a "challenging" and "dire" situation for rescuers, a former Coast Guardsman told Fox News. 

"From what I understand, the vessels are not designed for long-range, multi-day excursions," said John Mixson, a retired U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant commander who was involved in long-range search and rescue missions. "So it's going to be a very, very uncomfortable, dark experience with a lot of hope and prayers."

The former Coast Guardsman details the likely situation for the passengers of the submersible.

French mariner Paul-Henry Nargeolet is reportedly among the five people aboard the missing Titanic tourist submersible. Fellow traveler, U.K. billionaire and aviator Hamish Harding, mentioned Nargeolet in a social media post ahead of the voyage, which began early Sunday.

Take a deep dive into some historical, numerical facts you might not know about the "Wonder Ship" that set sail on April 14, 1912.

Learn more about the Titanic!

Hamish Harding, a British millionaire known for his exploratory escapades across the globe, is reportedly among five people who went missing aboard a tourist submersible visiting the Titanic shipwreck.

Harding, chairman of Dubai-based Action Aviations, boarded the OceanGate Expeditions submersible Sunday morning as part of a $250,000 tourist venture to see the historic wreck of the ill-fated White Star ocean liner off the Canadian coast. 

Read more about Hamish Harding.

U.K. billionaire and aviator Hamish Harding, one of five people reportedly on board a missing Titanic tourist submersible, posted on Instagram ahead of the voyage that it was likely to be "the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023" because of "the worst weather in 40 years" in Newfoundland.

Harding said the voyage was planned to follow through because a "weather window" had opened up and the crew would attempt a dive Sunday morning.

A search was still underway Monday afternoon for a missing five-person submersible used to take tourists to see the underwater wreckage of the Titanic, but one expert says he remains "very hopeful" and "very positive." 

Speaking to Canada’s NTV Evening News, Titanic expert Larry Daley acknowledged the dangers of deep submersible diving, but argued that technology has gotten much better in recent years. 

See what else the Titanic expert says about the missing submersible.

JRCC Halifax has tasked one Royal Canadian Air Force Aurora aircraft out of 14 Wing Greenwood in Nova Scotia for aerial search, and Canadian Coast Guard Vessel Kopit Hopson is also assisting MRCC Boston with a surface search for the submersible.

Rear Admiral John W. Mauger said Monday that the U.S. Coast Guard and Canada have both deployed C-130 aircraft in the search for missing Titanic tourist submersible. Commercial vehicles are being utilized in the search as well, Mauger said.

Canadian forces have also deployed a P-8 submarine search aircraft and put sonar buoys in the water.

The location of the search is approximately 900 miles east of Cape Cod in a water depth of roughly 13,000 feet. 

"Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Boston has requested assistance from Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) Halifax in the search of an overdue submarine. The submersible has lost communications with its surface vessel located 380NM south of St. John’s NL," Jessica Lamirande with Canadian Department of National Defense said in a statement.

"JRCC Halifax has tasked one Royal Canadian Air Force Aurora aircraft out of 14 Wing Greenwood in Nova Scotia for aerial search, and Canadian Coast Guard Vessel Kopit Hopson is also assisting MRCC Boston with a surface search for the submersible.MRCC Boston retains the lead for all search coordination."

A search and rescue mission is underway for a submersible that was reported missing in the Atlantic Ocean while taking tourists to the submerged wreck of the Titanic on Monday.

The sub belongs to OceanGate Expeditions, a company that provides crewed submersible services for exploration, industry and research purposes. The U.S. Coast Guard is participating in the search and has reported that five people are aboard the vessel, including one crew member and four "mission specialists." An air search is underway and several ships are heading to the area to assist. 

Learn more about the OceanGate Expeditions.

A rescue mission is underway after a vessel used to take tourists to see the underwater wreck of the Titanic went missing in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday.

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed to Fox News Digital that they were currently searching for a lost Titan submersible. Tourists can charter the small craft for visits to the infamous ship through OceanGate Expeditions, which recently announced new mission crews for a North Atlantic trip on social media.

Click here to read more.