Titanic submersible used to take tourists to see wreck for $250,000 a ticket goes missing in Atlantic Ocean

Off the coast of Canada, a tourist submersible that let five people to view the Titanic ruins for up to $250,000 per ticket has gone missing on Monday, sparking a massive search operation. The missing vessel, which is being searched for by the Canadian and Boston coast guards, belongs to the tour operator OceanGate Expeditions. Around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada, the historic ship's wreckage is located 2.5 miles under the water at a depth of 12,500 feet. 

OceanGate Expeditions is thought to be the only company that offers the tours. A ten-day expedition when groups split off into smaller pods and scuba dive in the submersibles for up to ten hours costs a stunning $250,000 in tickets. The company has not commented yet.

Polar Prince, Horizon Arctic, and Kopit Hobson 1752 of the Canadian Coast Guard are en route to the debris, according to Marine Traffic. 

Tourists spend a total of 10 days at sea on a larger ship, participating in dives that can take up to 10 hours each. According to social media posts, the business employs Elon Musk's internet company Starlink for its maritime communications. The company's CEO Stockton Rush told CBC in an interview last year that their subs could accommodate five passengers. 

"Titan is the only five-person sub capable of going to the Titanic depth, which is half the depth of the ocean. There's no switches and things to bump into, we have one button to turn it on. Everything else is done with touch screens and computers, and so you really become part of the vehicle and everybody gets to know everyone pretty well," he said.

The 2023 expeditions are only the third the company has carried out in the Titan. 

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• Titanic
• Canada
• Atlantic Ocean