A submersible has gone missing while exploring the depths of the Titanic wreckage, with rescuers facing a race against time to find the crew and tourists before they run out of oxygen.
As reported by Sky News, the vessel operated by OceanGate Expeditions went missing on Sunday in the Atlantic Ocean while exploring the wreckage of the Titanic.
After an hour and 45 minutes under the water, the submarine lost contact with the research vessel Polar Prince and no communication has happened since.
The vessel, known as Titan, was carrying five people on board and they have been identified as British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, as per Reuters.
Alongside the three tourists, Stockton Rush, founder and chief executive officer of OceanGate and French pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet are also said to be on board.
OceanGate Expeditions charges $250,000 for a place on its eight-day expedition.
There has been widespread speculation about what could have happened to the vessel, with nothing confirmed as of yet.
An international rescue effort is now underway to locate the Titan and those on board, but they face a race against time and are operating at a depth where no rescue operation has successfully been carried out before.
Sky News reports that the vessel holds 96 hours of oxygen at the start of the expedition, meaning that they may run out within the next 48 hours.
According to OceanGate, the Titan is capable of diving to a depth of 13,120ft, and it would take roughly two hours to reach the Titanic which lies at around 12,500ft.
The US Coast Guard is leading the search for the missing vessel, with help from around the world.
Rear Admiral John W Mauger said: "We launched a C-130 aircraft to conduct an aerial search, both visual and radar of the scene. We've subsequently coordinated with the Canadian Coast Guard and Canadian Armed Forces to deploy additional assets to the scene.
"The Canadians have had a C-130 aircraft searching as well, in addition to also having a P-8 submarine search aircraft deploy as well, and put sonar buoys in the water in an attempt to listen."
The UK Ministry of Defence has indicated that NATO's submarine rescue system (NSRS), may not be able to aid in the search as it is unable to safely operate at the depths that Titan could be located.
Speaking to Sky News, Robert Blasiak, ocean researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, said: "The dream scenario right now is that the submersible has managed to reach the surface and it's just drifting at sea level and will be found by one of the passing aircraft in the coming hours."
However, he indicated that if the submersible was sat at the depth of the Titanic or below, or could be "an entirely different story".
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