SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Frantic search efforts for a missing submersible are underway in the North Atlantic Ocean near the wreckage site of the Titanic.
"All our efforts are on finding the sub,” said Capt. Jamie Frederick, U.S. Coast Guard.
OceanGate, the company behind the expedition, says the submersible is equipped with up to 96 hours of oxygen – meaning the five people on board only have until early Thursday morning until that oxygen is expected to run out.
Those aboard include businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, renowned Titanic researcher Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and British billionaire Hamish Harding.
According to social media posts, Harding's stepson is local to the San Diego area.
Hamish posted on Facebook just hours before the dive: “A weather window has just opened up and we're going to attempt a dive tomorrow. More expedition updates to follow.”
Each person on board paid an estimated $250,000 to get an up-close look at the Titanic. Stockton Rush, the CEO of the expedition company, is also on board.
U.S. and Canadian coast guards have been scouring an area over 900 miles off the coast of Massachusetts – deploying radar and sonar capable of searching above and below the water.
"The deeper you go…the pressure down there is like 450 times atmospheric pressure,” Dr. Jules Jaffe told 10News on Monday.
Dr. Jaffe, a research oceanographer based here in San Diego, helped develop the visual imaging system that originally located the Titanic. He knows firsthand the challenges rescue teams are up against: "The physics is something like…when you're driving in a fog bank and you put your brights on and you can't see further…that's kind of what the ocean is like.”
Stay with ABC 10News for the latest on search efforts.
