Final ping from Titanic tourist sub reveal’s vessel’s last known location

Rescue crews are frantically searching the Atlantic Ocean after the £200,000-a-head ($321,220AUD) voyage disappeared while heading to the wreckage of the Titanic.

It’s believed British billionaire Hamish Harding, French diving expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet and submarine boss Stockton Rush are among those missing, The Sun reports.

The submarine – named Titan – sends texts to communicate with their team on transport vessel the Polar Prince which remains above water.

Titan understood to have lost contact with the Polar Prince just one hour and 45 minutes into the expedition.

Every 15 minutes, Titan also sends ‘pings’ to the Polar Prince.

The final of these messages is understood to have been sent at around 3pm UK time (12am AEST) on Monday, The Times reports.

The final ping showed Titan directly above the Titanic, sources claim.

After that, no contact was had with the vessel at all.

It has sparked fears that Titan could be trapped in the wreckage of the Titanic, too deep for rescuers to access.

OceanGate’s sub has the capacity for one pilot and four others – and it went down with oxygen supply able to last 96 hours.

It means at the time of writing they have 72 hours left.

Early Sunday morning, UK time, the final picture of OceanGate submarine above water was taken.

Snaps show the vessel in foggy and wet weather being taken out to sea by two dinghies on a barge before it slipped into the water.

One of the missing passengers has been named as aviator and businessman Hamish Harding.

The 58-year-old is known as one of the leaders of the record-breaking mission to orbit the Earth via both poles in 2019.

His stepson confirmed today that he was one of the crew on board the sub.

Harding yesterday posted on Facebook about poor weather conditions before the trip began.

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.

“A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.”

French submersible pilot Paul-Henry Nargeolet is also feared to be on board.

Mr Nargeolet is the Director of Underwater Research Program at Premier Exhibitions, RMS Titanic, Inc.

The diving expert previously spoke frankly of the extreme dangers of deep-sea exploration in an interview.

He said: “If you are 11m or 11km down, if something bad happens, the result is the same.

“When you’re in very deep water, you’re dead before you realise that something is happening, so it’s just not a problem.”

Submarine CEO ‘missing’

It’s thought the pair have been accompanied by Stockton Rush, the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of OceanGate Inc – the company carrying out the expedition.

Last year he told CBC: “Titan is the only five-person sub capable of going to the Titanic depth, which is half the depth of the ocean.

“There are 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.”

The wreckage of the Titanic has sat more than 12,400ft (3779m) beneath sea level in dark and icy waters in the North Atlantic Ocean for 111 years.

OceanGate, one of few companies offering trips to see the ruins, confirmed a major search mission has been launched to “bring the crew back safely”.

Tickets for tourists to see the wreckage – which is around 600km off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada – cost up to £195,000 ($313,189AUD).

The company previously revealed it uses Elon Musk’s Starlink to communicate with the vessel, however it’s not clear what has gone wrong with the network.

A spokesman for OceanGate said: “We are exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely.

“Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families.

“We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to reestablish contact with the submersible.

“We are working toward the safe return of the crew members.”

The submarine set sail from St John’s in Newfoundland at 7am on Sunday.

Just one hour and 45 minutes into the expedition the submarine lost contact with its transport vessel – the Polar Prince, according to the US Coast Guard.

At roughly midnight on Monday morning the vessel was reported “overdue”.

It’s believed this is when the alarm was raised and the Coast Guard were notified.

A Royal Navy source said they were monitoring the situation but that prospects of a rescue were bleak as the wreck is more than 12,00ft deep.

The source said: “Opportunities and capabilities in that depth of water are few and far between.”

Britain, France and Norway run NATO’s global submarine rescue service, but it can only dive to 2,000ft.

The NATO submarine rescue system is fully “air portable” and can be loaded onto a mothership in a port closest to the sub in distress.

OceanGate bills the trip as a “chance to step outside of everyday life and discover something truly extraordinary”.

The vessel weighs over 10,000kg and is powered by electric thrusters, generating a stop speed of three knots.

Unusually, it is reportedly steered by a reinforced PlayStation controller, though there is no GPS system, with crew instead relying on texts from a team above the water.

A doomed voyage

The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage to New York on April 14, 1912, after hitting an iceberg.

More than 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers and crew on-board were killed, and many died within minutes of being thrown into the -2C waters.

The decaying wreck of the 822ft (250m) liner was first discovered in 1985 but due to its depth and strong currents even the best underwater cameras have only offered a small snapshot into its colossal remains.

Its bow and the stern that broke apart during the sinking lie more than 2,600ft apart and are surrounded by an unending field of exposed debris.

But last month, the ship’s haunting wreck was revealed as never before in stunningly detailed 3D scans on the ocean floor.

Scientists hope the high-resolution digital images – the clearest view ever of the world’s most famous shipwreck – could shed new light on the disaster.

The British luxury passenger liner took under three years to construct, costing around about £170 million ($273 million AUD) today.

Thousands of workers were involved in the project, with some 14,000 men employed during the peak of construction.

The frame was fully formed in just over a year, with the shell plating finished shortly afterwards.

The steamship was released from its dry dock in 1911 and work on the interior began.

Just eight days before its maiden voyage, it was declared seaworthy.

The Sun has approached OceanGate for comment.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission