A commercial submarine has gone missing near the site of wreck of the Titanic. It is not clear how many people, if any, were on board at the time it went missing.
Titanic sank into the Atlantic in 1912 during its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. The wreck – discovered 37 years ago – is some 4,000m deep at the bottom of the Atlantic, about 400 nautical miles from Newfoundland in Canada.
It’s currently unknown if there were any people on board the submarine at the time. Paying tourists can take trips in small submarines to see the sunken wreck of the Titanic.
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Earlier this year, the company said it planned an expedition to the wreck for Summer 2023, which would further document the Titanic and its “rate of decay”. Their mission plan reads: “Given the massive scale of the wreck and the debris field, multiple missions performed over several years will be required to fully document and model the wreck site.
“This longitudinal survey to collect images, videos, laser, and sonar data will allow objective assessment of the rate of decay and documentation of the process. Qualified explorers have the opportunity to join the expedition as Mission Specialist crewmembers whose Training and Mission Support Fees underwrite the mission, the participation of the science team, and their own training. Each team of 6 Mission Specialists will join the expedition for a 10-day mission (8 Days at Sea). The entire expedition is comprised of 5 mission legs.”
The statement goes on to say that mission specialists would “capture data and images for the continued scientific study of the site”, ‘”document the condition of the wreck with high-definition photographs and video”, and “document the flora and fauna inhabiting the wreck site for comparison with data collected on prior scientific expeditions to better assess changes in the habitat and maritime heritage site.