A rescue operation continues today deep in the Atlantic Ocean in search of a submarine-style vessel which is carrying five people to the Titanic wreckage.
The passengers and crew on board paid over €200,000 per ticket for a chance to observe the wreckage of the Titanic, which sank back in 1912.
It is believed that among those inside the vessel is British billionaire explorer, Hamish Harding, and renowned French diver, Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
The craft submerged on Sunday morning, and its support vessel, the Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, lost contact with it around an hour and 45-minutes into its eight-day venture, authorities confirmed.
OceanGate Expeditions, the company running these missions to see the Titanic also confirmed that its submarine was lost at sea with crew members on board.
The company’s chief executive, Stockton Rush, previously described the sea-craft as “rock solid”, and he is also believed to be on board.
The company said in a statement that it is “exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely.”
Today, an RMS Titanic expert has given their opinion and claimed that those who took part in the dive would have been aware of the risks.
Speaking on TalkTV’s Jeremy Kyle Live, David Scott-Beddard, chairman of the British Titanic Society said: “When you undertake a dive such as this, the passengers and the crew, they do realise the possibility of an incident such as this happening.”
Speaking about the news of the submarine’s disappearance, Scott-Beddard then added: “It’s clearly very distressing news.
“This is the first incidence of this type since RMS Titanic was discovered in September of 1985, so primarily our thoughts are with the crew and members of the public who are tourists onboard the submersible.”
It’s believed that the lost submarine is able to stay underwater for around 92 hours before it would be required to return to the surface.
Scott-Beddard believes that the change in pressure as the submarine continued to dive deeper would have alerted the pilot and ensured they had enough time to get closer to the surface.
“The pressure on the hull down at 4000 metres is approximately three and a half tonnes per square inch,” he said before adding: “So let’s just hope that that system is working if this is the issue and they’re brought home safely.”
Although he says he doesn’t want to “pre-empt the thoughts of loss of life,” he went on to explain: “Clearly when you undertake a dive such as this, the passengers and the crew, they do realise the possibility of an incident such as this happening.
“I personally don’t know a great deal more than what you’ve already said about the submersible at this stage so all I can repeat is that we hope and pray all five of those divers come back safely.”
