russian titanic tour

Titanic tour company offered up-close experience for $250,000

Modern in-person tourism at the Titanic is still in its infancy. 

The submersible that disappeared Sunday near the Titanic wreckage was on only its third trip since the company OceanGate Expeditions began offering them in 2021. 

OceanGate had been promoting the third dive for months on its website and in Facebook posts, offering the chance to “follow in Jacques Cousteau’s footsteps and become an underwater explorer” — for the price of $250,000. 

“ Become one of the few to see the Titanic with your own eyes,” the tour company said on its website. The ticket comes with a title: “mission specialist.” 

Participants have included a chef, an actor, a videographer and someone who worked in banking, the company said on Facebook. 

One of the customers said on Instagram last year that it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that lived up to her expectations. 

“My lifelong dream of seeing the Titanic has come true!” Chelsea Kellogg, a chef, wrote. “I am still trying to process the whole experience. I’m still crying. Still overwhelmed by all the emotions.” 

Kellogg, who did not respond to an interview request Monday, said she saw the ship’s bow, crow’s-nest and grand staircase. 

OceanGate seems to be the only company offering dive tours to the Titanic wreckage, underscoring the practical difficulty of reaching the site 12,500 feet down in the cold North Atlantic where the ship sank in 1912. About 1,500 people died. 

The resting place of the Titanic was unknown for decades, eluding several groups of researchers racing to find it, until a team led by the explorer Robert Ballard succeeded in 1985. Visits — some of them by artifact hunters — continued off and on for two decades.

Don Lynch, the Titanic Historical Society’s historian, said there was some tourism in the 1990s and early this century, when there were both artifacts to find and Russian-made submersibles capable of reaching the site’s depth. A Los Angeles artist went down in 2000 and produced watercolors from the experience .

Lynch, who went down in 2001, said that eventually, the visits trickled off as Russian-made submersibles were retired and fewer artifacts remained.

“There was a lot of salvage going on prior to that, and I think it reached the point where they weren’t bringing up anything that was increasing the museum visits,” he said. 

Until now, no submersible at the Titanic site had ever gone missing, he said.

Beginning in 2005, there was a 14-year dry spell with no human visits. Then, in 2019, another group visited the wreckage site and reported its rapid deterioration. The pace of visits has picked up since. 

RMS Titanic Inc., the company that owns the ship’s salvage rights, once tried to stop tourist visits, hoping to use pictures and tourism operations of its own to raise money for salvage operations, but in 1999 a federal appeals court ruled that tourists could visit , The Washington Post reported. 

Lynch said he thinks the site should have been treated as an archaeological site with careful documentation of all artifacts. He said he has no objection, though, to tourist visits, especially if they help to pay for research.

“Go down. Take a look. That’s great. It doesn’t damage the ship,” he said. 

Past participants praise the experience in a video OceanGate posted on YouTube in October. The video does not give their names. 

“This is a remarkable event in my life,” one person in the video says. 

“Not many people have done it, and that’s part of the appeal, too, right?” another says. 

Customers travel to the Titanic area from St. John’s, Newfoundland, aboard a ship — this year, the research vessel Polar Prince. 

On dive days, five people can fit into the submersible, named Titan, and the descent takes a couple of hours , OceanGate’s website says . 

“You may assist the pilot with coms and tracking, take notes for the science team about what you see outside of the viewport, watch a movie or eat lunch,” it says. 

There is a small toilet in Titan’s front dome, the website continues. It “doubles as the best seat in the house. When the toilet is in use, we install a privacy curtain between the dome and the main compartment and turn the music up loud.” 

OceanGate’s website promises “hours of exploring” before a two-hour ascent. 

There is required safety training for everyone on the research vessel, the website says. Beyond that, training depends on how much customers want to do, such as assisting with navigation. 

Stockton Rush, the founder of OceanGate, told the travel website Frommer’s in 2020 that about half of his customer pool were Titanic obsessives, while the other half were big-spending travelers also drawn to space tourism and other big-budget ideas. The original price back then was $125,000, or half this year’s price. 

“You couldn’t write a better story,” Rush told the website. “You have the rich and the poor. You have opulence. You have hubris. You have tragedy. You have death.”

The company initially planned to have six expeditions in 2021, Frommer’s reported, but it ended up running one that year and one last year. 

Before then, getting a close-up view of the Titanic’s wreckage meant visiting one of several museums where there are artifacts — including one at the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas — or perhaps visiting one of the replicas in Pigeon Forge , Tennessee, or Branson , Missouri. 

OceanGate’s website laid out various details of this year’s expedition, including a minimum age of 18. The price included training, gear and meals on the ship but not airfare, hotels before departure or insurance. 

Lynch, the historian, said the tours demonstrate the lasting curiosity about the Titanic.

“The movie really brought it to a younger audience and created a lot of new Titanic enthusiasts,” he said, referring to director James Cameron’s 1997 film. “Every couple decades, something happens that puts it back in the public eye.” 

David Ingram covers tech for NBC News.

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Titanic tours on Russian subs: $60k for ride to wreckage

To commemorate the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic, a tour company is offering a glimpse of the iconic ship’s wreckage. Passengers will descend into the blue abyss in Russian ‘Mir’ submersibles, the only vessels able to withstand the crushing pres

“Descend 12,500 feet into the North Atlantic to the deep-sea plain where Titanic lies at eternal rest. Explore the ghostly wreck and her debris field aboard the Russian 'Mir' submersibles,” advertises the company Deep Ocean Expeditions on their website.At the moment the company says they have 80 people already signed up to take the plunge.But such an experience does not come cheap. A trip into the deep blue will set visitors back by no less than $59,680 for a two-week cruise, which includes one eight to ten hour dive to the ship’s wreckage. Tours will set off from Newfoundland off the coast of Canada to the point where the Titanic sank in 1912, 380 miles out to sea.In spite of the astronomical price, tour leader Rob McCallum says that it is not just the uber rich that have signed up for the tour.“They’re people who have worked hard for their money and not made this decision lightly,” he said.The tour offers participants expert lectures from specialists, practical marine biology sessions and five-star dining during the duration of the trip.In order to be able to conduct a tour to such bone-crunching depths, the company Deep Ocean Expeditions had to solicit the services of two Russian 'Mir' submersibles. Among the most advanced vessels in the world, the 'Mir' are capable of diving to depths of 6,000 meters, giving ti access to 98 percent of the ocean floor. The submersible’s large viewing screens and capacity to stay below the surface for a total of 18 hours make it ideal for the task. However, with a cabin space of a mere 7 feet, the experience is certainly not for the claustrophobic. Tours to the wreckage of the Titanic are very rare, the last one taking place in 2005 in spite of high demand.The Titanic sank during its maiden voyage in 1912 after colliding with an iceberg, killing 1,517 of the 2,000 people onboard. Weighing in at 46,000 tons, the Titanic was a technological marvel of the age and the largest vessel ever to be built.Today the ship is a shadow of its former glory, its condition having deteriorated during the past couple of years due to the accidental damage caused by submersibles and the presence of iron-eating bacteria on the hull. Scientists and specialists hope to use the 100-year anniversary of the iconic ship to push for a worldwide agreement for its protection.

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Reporter who survived submarine stuck under titanic propeller ‘thought it was the end’.

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Stories of daredevils who have taken the 12,100-foot descent down to the bottom of the ocean to view the Titanic are coming to the surface and detailing their experience of being seconds away from death. More than 20 years ago, Michael Guillen was the first correspondent to travel in a Russian submarine to the Titanic wreckage site in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Canada. Guillen, also a physicist, survived a chillingly similar ordeal to those currently lost on the submersible. On Sky News, he revealed that a horrifying incident while under the wreckage left him close to dying.

In September 2000, Guillen, 63, departed from Halifax, Canada to make the dive down to the bottom.

“When the Titanic sank, it broke into two pieces, the bow section went straight down. The stern did a somersault,” Guillen explained. “And so it exposed it when it landed on the bottom, it exposed the propeller. So when we toured the bow, there was no problem. There was a moment of silence we had just for the sake of the victims there.”

Guillen revealed that seeing the wreckage up close was very “somber” and “very haunting.”

What happened next would stick with him for the rest of his life.

@stonemetalgem 🎥 credit: @Sky News #titan #submersible #titanic #oceangate #ocean #exploration #explore #money ♬ original sound – stonemetalgem

Guillen said he noticed a giant propeller. Comparing it to the size of the submarine, he said it was a “mosquito” against the blades of the propeller.

“I remarked to myself how shiny it was, because it’s got brass, and so it doesn’t corrode the way the rest of the Titanic has. And as that happened, as I was just dazzled by this giant propeller, I noticed we were speeding up and that seemed strange to me, I thought we should be slowing down.”

They ended up being caught up in a very high speed underwater current that forced their submarine to slam right into the blades.

“[We] became trapped behind the blades of the propeller,” Guillen revealed. “And not only did we feel the collision, but also a huge piece of the Titanic started falling down on us. And we knew we were in trouble.”

Guillen quickly panicked and began to think there was really no way out of this.

“This voice in my head actually said to me, and I’ll never forget the words, ‘this is how it’s going to end for you.'”

“And for me, as a correspondent who had been to the North Pole, the South Pole, covered the Persian Gulf War and other places where I was in harm’s way, had always managed to survive it,” Guillen said. “For me that was that was a bitter pill to swallow. I thought of my wife, I’d never see her again … I don’t like recalling that experience.”

“It took me the better part of a half hour or more, as our pilot tried to jog us out, and he wasn’t succeeding. I finally really hit a brick wall and realize, no, this is the end of it.”

An hour later, they were able to wiggle out of the trap.

“By the grace of God, and by the skill of our pilot, who was a former MiG pilot, he was able to finally extricate us after the better part of an hour.”

But after that hour, they still had to think about getting back to the surface, which would take more than two hours.

“It’s an experience that I’ll never forget my life and my heart goes out to these people who are lost,” Guillen said, choking up. “Just I’m just so sick to my stomach. to think of those poor people down there.”

The submersive is carrying British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, along with French Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 73, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61.

Tourist submersible exploring Titanic wreckage disappears in Atlantic Ocean

What we know.

A submersible on a pricey tourist expedition to the  Titanic shipwreck  in the Atlantic Ocean has vanished with likely only four days’ worth of oxygen . The US Coast Guard said the small submarine began its journey underwater with five passengers Sunday morning, and the Canadian research vessel that it was working with lost contact with the crew about an hour and 45 minutes into the dive.

It was later found that a top-secret team with the US Navy detected the implosion of the Titan submersible on Sunday, but did not stop search efforts due because the evidence was “not definitive” and a decision was made to “make every effort to save the lives on board.” 

Who was on board?

The family of world explorer Hamish Harding confirmed on Facebook that he was among the five traveling in the missing submarine. Harding, a British businessman who previously paid for a space ride aboard the Blue Origin rocket last year, shared a photo of himself on Sunday signing a banner for OceanGate’s latest voyage to the shipwreck. 

Also onboard were Pakistani energy and tech mogul Shanzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman, 19; famed French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush.

• Missing Titanic sub live updates
• Debris discovered near Titanic site during frantic search for missing crew on OceanGate sub
• Daughter of missing Titanic diver remains hopeful: ‘I think we have to trust’ search crews
• Titanic tourist Hamish Harding’s family slams OceanGate for delay in reporting missing sub
• Coast Guard knew Titan sub imploded Sunday, but continued search anyway — here’s why

What’s next?

“We’re doing everything we can do to locate the submersible and rescue those on board,” Rear Adm. John Mauger told reporters . “In terms of the hours, we understood that was 96 hours of emergency capability from the operator.

Coast Guard officials said they are currently focusing all their efforts on locating the sub first before deploying any vessel capable of reaching as far below as 12,500 feet where the Titanic wreck is located.

Mauger, first district commander and leader of the search-and-rescue mission, said the US was coordinating with Canada on the operation.

The debris recovered from the US Coast Guard’s Titan submersible search site early Thursday included “a landing frame and a rear cover from the submersible.”

After search efforts to recover the stranded passengers proved futile, and bits of debris from the submersible were found, it was decided that the sub imploded, which correlated with an anomaly picked up by the US Navy in the same area.

The Coast Guard later reported that all 5 passengers were confirmed dead , and rescue efforts were halted.

Meanwhile, a German adventurer who explored the Titanic wreckage on the same submersible that disappeared has labeled the voyage a “suicide mission.”

“I was incredibly lucky back then,” Arthur Loibl, 60, told German outlet Bild of his hair-raising aquatic adventure.

He undertook the perilous underwater odyssey in August 2021.

“It was a suicide mission back then!” exclaimed the Bavarian entrepreneur, recalling his own journey into the abyss. “The first submarine didn’t work, then a dive at 1,600 meters had to be abandoned.”

Loibl explained that they ended up launching five hours late due to electrical issues — which he suspects is to blame for the Titan crews’ current predicament.

Not only that but right before the voyage, the bracket of the stabilization tube — which balances the sub — tore and had to be “reattached with zip ties,” he said.

The cramped conditions on board the Titan weren’t exactly reassuring either.

“You need strong nerves, you mustn’t be claustrophobic and you have to be able to sit cross-legged for ten hours,” described the aquanaut, who has circumvented Titanic’s remains twice in Titan.

The vessel has been missing since Sunday and has fewer than  41 hours of breathable oxygen left,  the US Coast Guard reported Tuesday.

Naval experts say the wreckage is in such a position that it will be a “difficult” recovery mission.

Operated by OceanGate Expeditions, the submersible, known as the Titan submersive, holds only up to five people.

“It’s very worrying. It could have become entangled in the wreckage of Titanic, we don’t know yet. The wreck site is a long way from anywhere,” former Rear Admiral Chris Parry said during an appearance on Sky News.

“The only hope one has is that the mothership will have a standby craft that can investigate immediately what is going on.”

Titanic expedition leader, G. Michael Harris believes the victims in the vessel have already met their fates a lot sooner.

“Worst situation is… something happened to the hull… and our fear is, it imploded at around 3,200 meters,” Harris told Fox News.

When asked if there was anything the Navy could do at the moment, Harris directly responded “no.”

“I don’t see anything that can happen at this point,” Harris said. “When you are talking 6,000 pounds per square inch, it is a dangerous environment. More people have been to outer space than this depth of the ocean.”

On Tuesday, Canadian airplane aiding in the search for the missing Titanic-bound submersible recently detected “banging” every 30 minutes in the area where the vessel lost radio contact with its surface ship.

A Tuesday email obtained by the outlet from the Explorers Club, of which one of the passengers aboard the submersible is a member, noted the “tapping sounds” were detected around 2 a.m. local time, “implying crew may be alive and signaling.”

“RCC Halifax launched a P8, Poseidon, which has underwater detection capabilities from the air,” read the email updates sent to DHS.

As a result of the development, a remotely operated underwater vehicle was rerouted to the vicinity where the sounds were heard, but so far the searches have come up empty, the Coast Guard said.

“The data from the P-3 aircraft has been shared with our U.S. Navy experts for further analysis which will be considered in future search plans,” the Coast Guard wrote in the brief update posted on Twitter.

In 2019, the Titan submarine set a world record as the first non-military manned in a state-of-the-art five-person submersible to take a dive team of four down 3,760 meters (12,336 feet) under the ocean’s surface.

On Saturday, Harding posted on Facebook announcing his plans to partake in the expedition.

“I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate Expeditions for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic,” he said.

“Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023,” Harding added. “A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do.”

ives can last up to 10 hours each, and passengers get a bit more space inside than in typical vessels.

“The interior of Titan is roomy compared with traditional deep diving submersibles,” a caption on its social media says, adding “crew members have ample space to work together to document the Titanic wreck site.”

Titan is lighter in weight and more cost-efficient, according to the company, which says it’s designed to take five people to depths of 4,000 meters (13,123 feet).

The most significant innovation during the construction of the submersible is its real time hull health monitoring system, according to the company.

“This onboard health analysis monitoring system provides early warning detection for the pilot with enough time to arrest the descent and safely return to surface,” the company says, by utilizing co-located acoustic sensors and strain gauges throughout to analyze effects of changing pressure as the vessel goes deeper. “The proprietary Real Time Hull Health Monitoring (RTM) systems provides an unparalleled safety feature that assesses the integrity of the hull throughout every dive.”

Rush, the CEO and founder of OceanGate said in a 2022 interview with Dan.org that the submersible was built unlike anything else before.

“Essentially, the difference is the carbon fiber and titanium pressure vessel,” Rush said. “People have successfully used carbon fiber for yachts and aircraft but hadn’t yet applied it to crewed submersibles. A lot has changed in the past 50 years. We now know a lot about composites and how to manufacture and test them to make sure they are OK.”

On April, 15, 1912,  the Titanic sank  after hitting an iceberg. At the time, it was known as the biggest steamship in the world, carrying more than 1,400 passengers. The Titanic was en route to New York on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic from the United Kingdom.

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Scientist's harrowing experience trapped in submersible at Titanic wreck

As a massive search continues for a missing tourist submersible with five people on board near the Titanic wreck, US journalist Michael Guillen recounts his harrowing experience of being trapped in a similar vessel during a dive in the same spot back in 2000.

"I was the first correspondent ever to report from the wreck of the Titanic. So, naturally, I was excited," Dr Guillen, who at the time was science editor at America's ABC network, told BBC Radio 4.

He recollects that - together with diving partner Brian and Russian pilot Viktor - they went down in a small Russian submersible lowered from the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh research ship.

After touring Titanic's bow where "everything had gone well", the crew decided to head to the stern area some distance away.

The Titanic sank on 15 April 1912, after striking an iceberg. Before going down, the British passenger liner split into two parts.

"As we approached the stern area - flying over what's called the debris field - we were caught up... in a very fast-moving underwater current. So we ended up getting stuck in the propeller," says Dr Guillen, describing it as "huge".

"All of a sudden, there was just a crash. We just felt this collision, and all of sudden debris... just huge chunks, rusted chunks of the Titanic started falling on top of us."

'I had said my goodbyes in my mind'

Dr Guillen, a physicist and now a best-selling author, remembers that "it was pretty clear to us almost immediately we were stuck".

He says the pilot, who used to fly Russian Mig fighter jets, was trying to jostle the sub out.

"It's like you get your truck, your car stuck in the mud: you try to go forward, backward, forward, backward. Just to try to dislodge yourself.

"We all fell silent. We didn't want to disturb or distract Viktor. And we knew we were in a crisis. So we just kept quiet."

The sub eventually managed to get out "through the skill of Viktor", says Dr Guillen.

"We were just fortunate. There was a better part of an hour we were stuck. And I already pretty much had said my goodbyes in my mind.

"I'll never forget this thought that came to my head: this is how it's going to end for you.

"But in the end, we sensed that something changed... there was a sense that we were floating."

The journalist recollects that all this was happening in complete darkness, as the pilot turned off the spotlight.

"We didn't want to say anything. I was like 'My gosh, is it possible that we are out of this?'

"Then I turned to Viktor, and I said: 'OK?' That was all.

"He only spoke broken English. And I'll never forget [how] he said this in a very low growling Russian accent: 'No problem.'"

"I breathed a sigh of relief."

'I was ready to gang-tackle anybody panicking'

Dr Guillen said it took them about two-and-a-half hours to get back to the surface, and people aboard the launching ship had been aware of a "crisis" situation.

He says that back in 2000, there were only two countries that had subs able to withstand enormous water pressure - France and Russia.

Comparing the 7.8m-long (26ft) Russian Mir sub he was in to the missing vessel Titan, he says: "Our sub was nothing like this luxurious sub. I've seen pictures of the interior of Titan - it's like a mansion."

Inside the tight vessel, there were "two benches on either side - that was me and my diving buddy, and in the middle - the pilot".

"I have a fear of water. It was already difficult for me to do this," admits Dr Guillen - but says he simply could not turn down the opportunity to report from Titanic's wreck.

Before the dive, the crew had been instructed on what to expect in the sub.

"We were briefed on a true story that had happened when another gentleman had been caught in the sub in a crisis," says the American journalist.

"And his first instinct was to go to the hatch. Because your first instinct when you're trapped down there is, you stand up, you reach for the hatch, which is right overhead... thinking you're going to escape that way.

"This gentleman did that in a panic, and of course doomed himself because as soon as he does that, all it takes is one crack; the water comes in - it's under such enormous pressure: it's just like a razor blade - it cuts you in half.

"I was very concerned about someone doing this in the sub. So I immediately became vigilant," he recalls, adding that he was not panicking - but was "ready to gang-tackle anybody else in the sub who might panic".

"That helped distract me from the crisis we were in - it kind of gave me a purpose, a reason to not think about anything else," he says.

"And then - being a scientist - I immediately started taking an inventory in my mind: OK, how much our oxygen gonna last, what could we possibly do.

"I thought to myself how we could get out of this, and I reached a point that I really had to concede the really stark fact that there was no way out," he says, describing the conditions as "very hostile".

"That's when that voice came to my head - this is how it's going to end for you. And just experienced almost like a supernatural peace."

When asked about the missing Titan submersible, Dr Guillen is unable to contain his emotions.

"My heart is breaking for these five poor souls down there," he says in tears. "I know exactly what they are experiencing. There are just no words for it.

"I know what they are going through. I'm just praying so hard."

More on the Titanic sub

• LIVE: Follow the Titanic submersible rescue operation
• What we know about search for the OceanGate submersible
• Who is on the Titanic sub?

Safety investigations launched into Titan sub deaths

Titan sub implosion: how did it happen, rescuers scan ocean for titanic sub as clock ticks, british father, son and explorer among sub victims, scans of titanic reveal wreck as never seen before.

clock This article was published more than  1 year ago

What is submersible tourism? The Titanic expedition, explained.

How common are deep-sea expeditions like the Titan’s? Where else do submersibles go?

Seeing the wreck of the Titanic firsthand is a journey.

One must board a submersible vessel about the size of a minivan built to withstand the pressure of descending nearly two and a half miles into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean . It takes about two hours to reach the sunken ship and another two to get back to the surface, plus time for exploration.

And even with a price tag of a quarter of a million dollars, there has been no shortage of people with interest for such an adventure. Philippe Brown, founder of the luxury travel company Brown and Hudso , said there’s a long wait list for the OceanGate Expeditions submersible experience at the center of the world’s attention. The vessel, called the Titan, vanished Sunday in the North Atlantic with five onboard , triggering a wide-reaching search mission that ended Thursday, when the Coast Guard said a remotely operated vehicle discovered debris from the vessel on the ocean floor. Pieces of the submersible indicated it had imploded in a “catastrophic event," Coast Guard officials said. A spokesperson for OceanGate said the pilot and passengers “have sadly been lost."

For the world’s richest and most intrepid travelers, a submersible trip is not so far-fetched, says Roman Chiporukha, co-founder of Roman & Erica, a travel company for ultrawealthy clients with annual membership dues starting at $100,000.

“These are the people who’ve scaled the seven peaks, they’ve crossed the Atlantic on their own boat,” Chiporukha said. The typical vacation of the ultrawealthy, like a beach getaway on the Italian Riviera or St. Barts, “really doesn’t do it for them,” he added.

That description fits tycoon Hamish Harding , who was among the five people on Titan. An avid adventurer who’s thoroughly explored the South Pole and the Mariana Trench, Harding was also on the fifth spaceflight of Blue Origin , the private space company founded by Jeff Bezos, who owns The Washington Post.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Capt. Hamish Harding (@actionaviationchairman)

Harding and the Titan journey represent the extreme end of the submersible tourism industry, which has been growing in popularity since the 1980s. Ofer Ketter , a longtime submersibles pilot and co-founder of SubMerge , a firm that provides consulting and operations of private submersibles, says such deep-sea journeys are rare in comparison to those in more tropical locations. For example, the luxury tour operator Kensington Tours offers a $700,000, 10-day yacht trip that includes a 600-plus-foot dive in a submersible in the Bahamas to explore the Exumas ocean floor.

Here’s what else to know about the industry.

Deep water, high pressure: Why the Titanic sub search is so complex

Missing Titanic submersible

The latest: After an extensive search, the Coast Guard found debris fields that have been indentified as the Titan submersible. OceanGate, the tour company, has said all 5 passengers are believed dead.

The Titan: The voyage to see the Titanic wreckage is eight days long, costs $250,000 and is open to passengers age 17 and older. The Titan is 22 feet long, weighs 23,000 pounds and “has about as much room as a minivan,” according to CBS correspondent David Pogue. Here’s what we know about the missing submersible .

The search: The daunting mission covers the ocean’s surface and the vast depths beneath. The search poses unique challenges that are further complicated by the depths involved. This map shows the scale of the search near the Titanic wreckage .

The passengers: Hamish Harding , an aviation businessman, aircraft pilot and seasoned adventurer, posted on Instagram that he was joining the expedition and said retired French navy commander Paul-Henri Nargeolet was also onboard. British Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son, Suleman, 19, were also on the expedition, their family confirmed. The CEO of OceanGate , the submersible expedition company, was also on the vessel. Here’s what we know about the five missing passengers.