A search is underway for a missing submersible that carries people to view the wreckage of the Titanic. Canadian officials say the five-person submersible was reported overdue Sunday night about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John's, Newfoundland and that the search is being led by the U.S. Coast Guard. The owner of the ship that launched the submersible confirmed that it was operated by OceanGate Expeditions, which has been operating annual voyages since 2021 to the wreckage of the iconic ocean liner. In a statement, the company said it is working to bring the crew back safely.
To be fair, even if no vehicle that could rescue it from the bottom is available, that doesn’t mean that there is no use in a rescue mission if they don’t know where the sub is. For instance, it could have surfaced but had it’s communications lost, in which case they’d still need rescue, because based on a CBS video of the sub in question shared elsewhere on the thread, the thing doesn’t actually have a hatch and just has the front taken off and then bolted back on afterwards to let people in and out, and obviously is going to be airtight given it’s a sub and all.
To be fair, even if no vehicle that could rescue it from the bottom is available, that doesn’t mean that there is no use in a rescue mission if they don’t know where the sub is. For instance, it could have surfaced but had it’s communications lost, in which case they’d still need rescue, because based on a CBS video of the sub in question shared elsewhere on the thread, the thing doesn’t actually have a hatch and just has the front taken off and then bolted back on afterwards to let people in and out, and obviously is going to be airtight given it’s a sub and all.