BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Coastguard has launched a search effort after learning that a tourist submersible that was in charge of transporting people to the Titanic wreckage has vanished. Notably, the iconic ship's wreck lies 2.5 miles under the ocean which is 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada.
The sub has a capacity of transporting five people and reportedly it is still unclear how many were on board when the vessel vanished and which company is responsible for it. As per Daily Mail, OceanGate Expeditions is the only company that offers underwater tours with ticket costs at a whopping $250,000.
Who owns OceanGate?
Founded in 2009, Stockton Rush is the founder and CEO of OceanGate Inc. As per the company's website, OceanGate is a privately- owned company headquartered in Everett, Washington. The OpenGate crew's focus is "increasing access to the deep ocean through innovation of the next generation of crewed submersibles and launch platforms." The company further states, "Our fleet of five-person submersibles are capable of reaching depths as deep as 4,000 meters and provide unique platforms for exploring the deep ocean."
The Titan is an RTM-equipped vessel that provides early warning
Titan is one of its five-person Cyclops-class manned submersibles the company boasts about. Being is "lighter in weight and more cost efficient to mobilize than any other deep diving submersible," the company states. It is used for site surveys, inspection research, and data collection. With its "ground-breaking engineering," and "off-the-shelf technology" Titan is said to have a "unique advantage" over other deep diving subs and is simpler to operate. Besides it also has a Real-Time Hull Health Monitoring (RTM) which the company says is an unmatched safety function that evaluates the hull's integrity throughout each dive. It also provided early warning detection.
For its maritime communications, the corporation employs Starlink, Elon Musk's internet startup as per Daily Mail. "Titan is the only five-person sub capable of going to the Titanic depth which is half the depth of the ocean," Rush told CBC last year. "There's no switches and things to bump into, we have one button to turn it on. Everything else is done with touch screens and computers, and so you really become part of the vehicle and everybody gets to know everyone pretty well."
Bluefish is known for providing amazing and rare and the Titanic fits both those criteria
Bluefish a luxury concierge service was also reported to be offering Titanic tours. One report back in 2015 cited the company was charging a whopping $60,000 for the once-in-a-lifetime Titanic trips for the 2019/20 period. Director of Bluefish, Steve Sims at the time told the outlet, "We have sent over 40 people down and they have been housewives to technology billionaires, the Titanic really does capture the minds of a wide crowd." He continued, "Bluefish is known for providing the amazing and rare and the Titanic fits both those criteria. More people have been into space than set eyes on the Titanic."
OceanGate had first planned to drive to the wreck site in 2018
One report in CNN suggested that the OceanGate had planned to drive to the wreck site in 2018 and had delayed operations due to bad weather. The trips had to be rescheduled for 2019. The OceanGate was reported to have affiliations with a London-based travel company known as Blue Marble Probate for booking trips. At the time the marketing manager of OceanGate told CNN Travel, “We rescheduled the tour for 2019 because when we got to the Bahamas we had a self-imposed timeline of a 45-day go/no go that we needed to reach 4,000 meters by."
'The North Atlantic is pretty unpredictable'
Hall added, "Upon arrival, we had about a week of really bad thunder and lightning storms. The vessel wasn’t hit by lightning but was still affected." Adding, "The electromagnetic field from the lightning damaged over 70% of the electronics.” Halls conceded, “The North Atlantic is pretty unpredictable." Even as the first trips were delayed the company at the time had had remained confident the Titanic Survey Expedition will take place in 2019.
