What we know so far

A monolithic hunt and rescue effort is nether mode successful the North Atlantic aft a submarine exploring the wreck of the Titanic went missing connected Sunday.

The probe vas Polar Prince mislaid interaction with the unit of the Titan sub an hr and 45 minutes into its dive. The US Coast Guard estimated the sub had betwixt 70 and 96 hours of exigency oxygen, arsenic of 17:00 EST (22:00 BST) connected Monday.

Tour steadfast OceanGate said it was exploring each options to get the unit backmost safely, and authorities agencies person joined the rescue operation. Here is what we cognize truthful far.

The Polar Prince arrived adjacent the determination of the Titanic wreck successful the Atlantic Ocean connected Sunday morning. A Facebook station from Hamish Harding, who was connected the Titan, said they expected to commencement the dive successful the submersible astatine 0400 section time.

The Boston Coast Guard, which is starring the hunt operation, said connected Twitter that the 5 idiosyncratic unit "submerged Sunday morning, and the unit of the Polar Prince mislaid interaction with them astir 1 hr and 45 minutes into the vessel's dive".

The Titan submarine was thought to beryllium astir 900 miles (1450km) disconnected the seashore Cape Cod astatine the time.

The US Coast Guard's Rear Admiral John Mauger said connected Monday that it is simply a situation to behaviour a hunt successful specified a distant area.

The hunt has 2 aspects, helium said. These are a aboveground hunt successful lawsuit the Titan returned to the ocean's aboveground but someway mislaid communications, and an underwater sonar search.

The Coast Guard has sent 2 C-130 Hercules craft to hunt for the submersible connected the aboveground of the water, and has been joined by a Canadian C-130, and a P8 craft equipped with underwater sonar capability. Sonar buoys are besides being deployed successful the area.

Rear Adm Mauger said that they would request further expertise to rescue the vas if it was recovered underwater and were reaching retired for help, including to the US Navy and the backstage sector.

Canada's defence section said that, on with the aircraft, the Canadian seashore defender vas Kopit Hopson was assisting successful the search.

Horizon Maritime, which co-owns the Polar Prince, confirmed to the BBC that vas is helping and a 2nd vessel, the Horizon Arctic, has been sent to the site.

Among the 5 radical connected committee the Titan, 3 radical truthful acold person been confirmed - Hamish Harding, a 59-year-old British billionaire businessman and explorer, and a Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman Dawood.

Mr Harding archetypal announced helium was joining the squad successful June past year, and said that the unit connected the vas includes "a mates of legendary explorers, immoderate of which person done implicit 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s".

Mr Harding is the president of Action Aviation, an planetary institution which is deals with income and operations successful the concern aviation industry, based successful Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

On Twitter, his steadfast said connected Sunday that "the sub had a palmy motorboat and Hamish is presently diving".

In a connection connected Tuesday, the Dawood household said: "Our lad Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, had embarked connected a travel to sojourn the remnants of the Titanic successful the Atlantic Ocean.

"As of now, interaction has been mislaid with their submersible trade and determination is constricted accusation available.

"We are precise grateful for the interest being shown by our colleagues and friends and would similar to petition everyone to commune for their information portion granting the household privateness astatine this time."

French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet is besides thought to beryllium connected board, according to a Facebook station by Mr Harding earlier the dive started

And Stockton Rush, main enforcement of OceanGate - the steadfast down the dive - is besides being wide reported to beryllium connected the vessel.

OceanGate Expeditions charges guests $250,000 (£195,270) for a spot connected its eight-day expedition to spot the celebrated wreck, which sits 3,800m (12,500ft) beneath the aboveground astatine the bottommost of the Atlantic.

The tract is astir 600km (370 miles) disconnected the seashore of Newfoundland, and lies successful 2 parts, with the bow and the stern separated by astir 800m (2,600ft). A immense debris tract surrounds the breached vessel.

A afloat dive to the wreck, including the descent and ascent, reportedly takes 8 hours.

Each expedition lasts 8 days, according to OceanGate, and each dive is meant to see a technological objective, including studying the wreck's decay.

The inaugural dive took spot successful 2021, according to the company's website.

The Titan is simply a five-person submersible built to descend to depths of 4,000 metres (2.5 miles) and travels astatine 3 knots - that's astir 3.5 miles per hour.

Aside from taking divers to the wreck of the Titanic, it's utilized for tract survey and inspection, probe and information collection, movie and media production, and heavy oversea investigating of hardware and software.

According to the company, the Titan is "outfitted with state-of-the-art lighting and sonar navigation systems positive internally and externally mounted 4K video and photographic equipment".

According to OceanGate's website, the five-person sub has strategy for monitoring the vessel's hull successful existent time.

It has sensors to analyse the effects of changing unit connected the sub arsenic it dives, successful bid to measure the integrity of the structure.

"This onboard wellness investigation monitoring strategy provides aboriginal informing detection for the aviator with capable clip to apprehension the descent and safely instrumentality to surface," the institution says.

David Pogue, who went connected board, reported that helium work a waiver that described the submersible arsenic an "experimental" vessel, "that has not been approved oregon certified by immoderate regulatory body, and could effect successful carnal injury, disability, affectional trauma oregon death".

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush past gave him a circuit of the submersible, wherever helium revealed the vas lone has 1 fastener and is tally utilizing a video crippled controller.