Rescue teams from the US and Canada are racing against time to locate the tourist submarine Titan, which has been missing since Sunday, shortly after it began its dive into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, 600 kilometers off Newfoundland (Newfoundland ).

The submarine offered passengers a chance to see the wreck of the Titanic up close.

Photo Source: OceanGate Expeditions

According to the BBC, there were five people on board the submarine, and contact with the vessel was lost about an hour and 45 minutes after its dive.

The rescue operation continued overnight in the mid-Atlantic, but so far there has been no sign of the vessel.

Government agencies, the navies of both countries and commercial deep-sea companies are all assisting the rescue operation.

It is believed that the crew members have oxygen for another four days.

Among those on board is British billionaire businessman and explorer Hamish Harding, who revealed he was to join the last mission on the Titanic, according to the BBC.

He wrote on social media that the dive was attempted on Sunday, with the crew having set off from St John’s, Newfoundland last Saturday.

He added that the ship’s team includes “some legendary explorers, some of whom have made over 30 dives on RMS Titanic since the 1980s.”

He also said that this voyage is “likely to be the first and only manned mission on the Titanic” this year due to the harsh weather conditions.

“Right now, we’re using all the means we have,” US Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger said at a news conference.

Military planes, a submarine and sonar have so far been used to search for the vessel.

The characteristics of the submarine

The sub can carry up to five people, according to the company, and typically has a captain, three guests who pay for the unique experience, and what it calls a “content specialist.” However, it remains unknown so far how many people were on board when it disappeared.

It descends to a depth of 4,000 meters and the survival time in it for the five-member crew is 96 hours. It also travels at three knots, or about 3.5 miles per hour, according to the BBC.

Titanic

It is equipped with a built-in platform from which the submarine is launched and returned before and after each dive

A full wreck dive, including descent and ascent, reportedly lasts eight hours.

In addition to transporting people to the Titanic wreck, it is used for field survey and inspection, research and data collection, film and multimedia production, and deep-water hardware and software testing.

250,000 euros for a guided tour of the Titanic

The cost of this unique “opportunity to step out of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary” as the company OceanGate Expeditions says, in the famous wreck of the Titanic, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912 after colliding with an iceberg, reaches the sum of 250,000 dollars with the mission lasting eight days.

The wreck of the Titanic has been extensively explored since it was discovered in 1985. It is in two parts, with the bow and stern separated by about 800 meters (2,600 ft). At the same time, a lot of debris surrounds the boat cut in two.

The wreck of the Titanic lies about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St John’s, Newfoundland, although the salvage mission is being carried out from Boston, Massachusetts.

The US Coast Guard said a research vessel called the Polar Prince was conducting a surface search for the submarine on Monday night. It was used to transport submarines to the wreck site and was the support ship on Sunday’s tourist mission.

The missing vessel is OceanGate’s Titan submarine, which CBS reporter David Pogue traveled on last year to reach the wreckage of the Titanic.