Follow along for live updates on the submersible that vanished while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic.
US NAVY ACOUSTIC SYSTEM DETECTED 'ANOMALY' THAT WAS LIKELY IMPLOSION, OFFICIAL SAYS
A U.S. Navy acoustic system detected an 'anomaly' Sunday that was likely the Titan’s fatal implosion, according to a senior military official.
The Navy went back and analyzed its acoustic data after the Titan submersible was reported missing Sunday. Coast Guard officials on Thursday announced that the craft suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all five aboard.
That anomaly was "consistent with an implosion or explosion in the general vicinity of where the TITAN submersible was operating when communications were lost," according to a senior Navy official.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive acoustic detection system.
The Navy passed on the information to the Coast Guard, which continued its search because the Navy did not consider the data to be definitive.
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday first reported the Navy's involvement.
TITANIC SALVAGE RIGHTS OWNER MOURNS LOSS OF SHIPWRECK EXPERT
RMS Titanic, Inc., the company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic shipwreck, is mourning the loss of Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who was among five people killed aboard the Titan submersible when it imploded this week.
Nargeolet — known as "PH" — was a long-term employee of the company, and his father was previously its CEO.
"The maritime world has lost an iconic and inspirational leader in deep-sea exploration, and we have lost a dear and treasured friend," the company said in a statement Thursday.
Friend and former colleague Matthew Tulloch said Nargeolet loved his work from the time they collaborated in the 1990s up until Nargeolet's death.
"I never got the impression that he was looking forward to retirement," Tulloch said with a small laugh. "You sort of think of people as they retire, then they can go on and do things that they love to do. This was exactly that for him — I can’t think of anything that I'm aware of that he would enjoy doing more than traveling around and sharing information and his experiences with people."
WHITE HOUSE OFFERS CONDOLENCES TO FAMILIES OF TITAN VICTIMS
The White House offered its condolences to the families mourning the five people killed aboard the Titan submersible.
U.S. Coast Guard officials announced their deaths Thursday following the vessel’s catastrophic implosion in the North Atlantic.
"Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives on the Titan," the White House said in a statement. "They have been through a harrowing ordeal over the past few days, and we are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers."
The statement also thanked the searchers, including the Coast Guard, involved in the international effort to find the submersible.
"This has been a testament to the skill and professionalism that the men and women who serve our nation continue to demonstrate every single day," the statement said.
'TITANIC' DIRECTOR JAMES CAMERON SAYS DEEP-SEA EXPLORERS VOICED CONCERNS ABOUT TITAN
"Titanic" movie director James Cameron says the Titan submersible tragedy has eerie parallels to the ocean liner's disaster more than a century ago.
Debris from the submersible's catastrophic implosion, killing all five aboard, was discovered near the shipwreck.
In an interview with ABC News, Cameron said he was "struck" by the similarities. The Titanic's captain ignored warnings about ice in the North Atlantic, and the movie director said deep-sea explorers voiced concerns about the Titan submersible, saying it was too experimental to carry passengers.
"To take place at the same exact site with all the diving that's going on all around the world, I think it's just astonishing," Cameron told the TV station. "It's really quite surreal."
Cameron had previously traveled to the Titanic wreckage, including on Sept. 11, 2001, in a submersible vessel.
PAKISTAN OFFERS CONDOLENCES TO FAMILY OF FATHER AND SON ABOARD IMPLODED SUBMERSIBLE
Pakistan has offered the country’s condolences to the Dawood family after the father-and-son explorers were among five killed when the Titan submersible imploded deep in the North Atlantic waters during a trip to the Titanic’s wreckage.
Pakistani nationals Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were aboard the Titan when it went missing Sunday. Authorities on Thursday said the catastrophic implosion meant there were no survivors.
The Dawoods are members of one of Pakistan’s most prominent families and their firm, Dawood Hercules Corp., based in Karachi, is involved in agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunication infrastructure.
“Our deepest condolences to the Dawood family and the family of other passengers on the sad news about the fate of Titanic submersible in the North Atlantic,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry wrote on Twitter. “We appreciate the multinational efforts over the last several days in search of the vessel.”
COAST GUARD SAYS SOUNDS HEARD DURING SEARCH LIKELY UNRELATED TO TITAN SUBMERSIBLE
The Coast Guard says underwater sounds and banging noises detected in the search area for the Titan were likely unrelated to the missing submersible.
The sounds, heard over two days, gave hope to searchers and those watching the massive effort unfold since Sunday, when the vessel was reported missing, but ultimately seems irrelevant.
Experts say the ocean floor is a "noisy" place and a potential connection between the banging and the Titan were unlikely.
Debris from the Titan, which suffered a catastrophic implosion that killed all five men aboard, was found near the Titanic shipwreck deep in the North Atlantic waters.
"There doesn’t appear to be any connection between the noises and the location on the seafloor," Rear Adm. John Mauger of the First Coast Guard District said Thursday.
COAST GUARD WILL CONTINUE SEARCHING SEA FLOOR FOR CLUES
The Coast Guard will continue searching the sea floor near the Titanic shipwreck for more clues about what happened to the Titan submersible deep in the North Atlantic waters.
Officials say there isn’t a timeframe for when they will call off the massive international search. Efforts to recover the submersible and the remains of the five men who died in a catastrophic implosion aboard the vessel remain ongoing.
Much of the search is being done by remotely operated underwater vehicles known as ROVs that can scan the sea floor.
"This is an incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the seafloor," Rear Adm. John Mauger of the First Coast Guard District said Thursday.
TITAN’S DEBRIS FIELD WAS FOUND NEAR TITANIC SHIPWRECK, COAST GUARD SAYS
Coast Guard officials say the Titan’s debris field was discovered near the Titanic shipwreck but it’s too early to tell exactly when the catastrophic implosion occurred.
The Titan submersible was reported missing Sunday – eight hours after it initially lost contact with its surface ship – and its 96-hour oxygen supply would have run out Thursday morning.
It’s not clear whether the implosion occurred Sunday or in the days following, during an international search effort to find the missing submersible.
The Titan’s debris field was located roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the Titanic.
In this satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies, from top to bottom, the vessels L'Atalante, Horizon Arctic, Deep Energy, and Skandi Vinland search for the missing submersible Titan, Wednesday June 22, 2023 in the Atlantic Ocean. (Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies via AP)
TITAN SUBMERSIBLE LIKELY IMPLODED AND THERE WERE NO SURVIVORS, COAST GUARD SAYS
The Coast Guard says the Titan submersible likely imploded in the North Atlantic waters and there were no survivors among the five people aboard.
The implosion likely occurred near the Titanic shipwreck, where the submersible was headed.
"The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber," Rear Adm. John Mauger, the First Coast Guard District, said Thursday. "Our most heartfelt condolences go out to the loved ones of the crew."
OCEANGATE SAYS FIVE PEOPLE ON MISSING SUBMERSIBLE BELIEVED TO BE DEAD
The company leading the Titan submersible trip to the wreckage of the Titanic says the five missing crew members are believed to be dead.
OceanGate Expeditions on Thursday says its pilot and chief executive Stockton Rush, along with passengers Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet “have sadly been lost.”
OceanGate did not provide details Thursday when the company announced the “loss of life” in a statement or how officials knew the crew members perished.
The vessel’s 96-hour oxygen supply likely ended early Thursday morning.
The company has been chronicling the Titanic’s decay and the underwater ecosystem around it via yearly voyages since 2021.
Composite photo of Titan passengers. From left: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush; British billionaire Hamish Harding; Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman; and French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
8-HOUR TIME DELAY TO REPORT MISSING TITAN RAISES QUESTIONS
Questions remain about the eight hours between when the Titan lost communication with the surface and when its Canadian support vessel reported it missing to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The time delay has yet to be explained by the company that owns the submersible, OceanGate Expeditions.
Sean Leet, head of the company that co-owns the Titan’s support ship, has refused to discuss the timeline, saying only that “all protocols were followed for the mission.”
But experts familiar with deep-sea exploration say those lost hours raise red flags.
The submersible used a rudimentary system that basically communicated with the surface ship through text message, and likely lacked an emergency radio beacon that could have floated to the surface and started beeping if there was an emergency.
The vessel had lost communication with the support ship, Canadian research icebreaker Polar Prince, during previous dives.
PAST DEEP-SEA RESCUES SHOW CHALLENGES FOR TITAN
The search for the Titan submersible has drawn attention to other deep-sea rescues, only some of which ended in lives being saved.
Those successful efforts -- from a submersible off Ireland to a submarine off the New Hampshire coast -- offer some measure of hope for the passengers and their families.
But many ended with some, if not all, the passengers on board dying -- demonstrating the inherent risk of operating in the deep ocean.
Either way, those rescue missions were not as complex as the effort to find the Titan submersible. They were often in shallower waters and, in several cases, were much bigger crafts.
For example, the USS Squalus sank off the coast of New England in 1939 during a test dive, due to a catastrophic valve failure that partially flooded the military submarine. A newly developed rescue chamber was lowered into the water to famously save the surviving 33 crew members. Twenty-six others drowned in the initial accident.
But the Titan is a civilian vessel and would not have standard Navy hatches that could attach to a rescue chamber like the one used for the Squalus. That makes it almost impossible to rescue any of the submersible's occupants if they are found underwater.
SEARCH FOR TITAN SHOWS NEED FOR MORE DEEP-SEA TECH
An underwater researcher says the search for the Titan shows the desperate need for more deep-sea technology in the U.S.
The unsuccessful efforts have "really opened up people's eyes that we need a much more robust capability over larger areas of the ocean to be able to detect and sense where things are," said Nick Rotker, who leads underwater research for non-profit research and development company MITRE.
The U.S. needs more underwater robots and remotely operated underwater vehicles, known as ROVs, to ensure safety, he said, especially as private exploration of the ocean expands.
"The issue is we don't have a lot of capability or systems that can go to the depth this vessel was going to," Rotker said.
Several ROVs are in the North Atlantic waters to search for the missing submersible. One found a debris field near the Titanic wreckage that could be linked to the Titan. The debris field was discovered by a robot from a Canadian vessel.
DEBRIS FIELD DISCOVERED BY DEEP-SEA ROBOT
Officials say a remote-operated robot discovered the debris field near the Titanic that could be linked to the missing Titan.
The robot is one of several remotely operated vehicles, known as ROVs, scanning the sea floor for clues of the missing submersible.
The ROVs are outfitted with cameras and travel to depths many other vessels cannot and have been used for undersea exploration for decades.
The Coast Guard's post on Twitter gave no details, such as whether officials believe the debris field is connected to the Titan.
The Titanic wreckage is located at a depth of 12,500 feet (3.8 kilometers) in the North Atlantic waters.
The Coast Guard has scheduled an afternoon news conference in Boston to discuss the ROV's findings.
DEBRIS FIELD DISCOVERED
The U.S. Coast Guard says an underwater vessel has located a debris field near the Titanic in the search for a missing submersible with five people aboard, a potential breakthrough in an increasingly urgent around-the-clock effort.
The Coast Guard's post on Twitter gave no details, such as whether officials believe the debris is connected to the Titan, which was on an expedition to view the wreckage of the Titanic. The search passed the critical 96-hour mark Thursday morning when breathable air could have run out.
The Titan was estimated to have about a four-day supply of breathable air when it launched Sunday morning in the North Atlantic -- but experts have emphasized that was an imprecise approximation to begin with and could be extended if passengers have taken measures to conserve breathable air.
PAKISTAN'S GOV'T FOLLOWING SEARCH FOR TITAN AND 2 NATIONALS ABOARD
A spokesperson for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry says the country's diplomats in the United States and Canada are following developments in the search for the Titan.
Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, are among the five people aboard the submersible that went missing Sunday as it descended to the wreckage of the Titanic. Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Thursday in Islamabad that the government has confidence the search mission will be pursued effectively.
It was the first comment by any Pakistani official since the submersible vanished. The Dawoods are members of one of the country's most prominent families.
AS OXYGEN LEVELS RUN LOW ON BOARD TITAN, PASSENGERS CAN MAKE MINOR CONSERVATION EFFORTS
The Titan was said to have enough oxygen on board to to last 96 hours, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, meaning they could run out sometime Thursday.
But there are ways the five passengers can conserve, said professor Hugh Montgomery, director of the Centre for Human Health and Performance at University College London, even as temperatures drop to near freezing.
The human body makes every effort to maintain a core body temperature so shivering may increase oxygen demands, he said.
"The only effective way to limit O2 demand in this circumstance is not to burn excess energy," Montgomery said.
That means staying immobile or sleeping. Meditation can also slightly reduce oxygen demand by producing less stress hormones, less movement and more relaxed muscles, but such effects will be marginal, he said.
FRENCH DEEP SEA ROBOT JOINS INTERNATIONAL SEARCH FOR MISSING SUBMERSIBLE
A French deep sea robot that can dive to depths of 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) has joined the search for the missing Titan submersible and its five passengers.
France's state-run ocean research institute said Thursday the Victor 6000 is fitted with cameras, lights and robotic arms that could, if Titan is found, assist in raising it to the surface.
"With all of its cameras and things, we're capable of finding things really well in an area 20 to 30 meters (yards) around," said Olivier Lefort, the fleet director at the French ocean research institute Ifremer. He added that if the Titan is found, Victor 6000 could help attach cables to the submersible in an effort to raise it.
The robot was aboard the French ocean research ship L'Atalante, which was working in the Atlantic, 48 hours away, when the Titan vanished Sunday on its way to the Titanic wreckage, which is at about 3,800 meters (12,467 feet) deep.
This photo provided by OceanGate Expeditions shows a submersible vessel named Titan used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-OceanGate Expeditions via AP
'DESPERATE SITUATION:' SCIENTISTS, WHILE REALISTIC ABOUT SURVIVAL CHANCES, OFFER HOPE
Scientists, while remaining realistic about the chances of finding the Titan on the vast ocean floor, are still offering a glimmer of hope.
Rob Larter, a marine geophysicist with the British Antarctic Survey, said in London on Thursday that it's incredibly difficult to find an object the size of the Titan in a totally dark environment. He says it's not going to be found with active sonar from a surface ship, but rather with a towed or autonomous vehicle that's near the seafloor. Even those vehicles can see just a matter of meters.
"I've been involved in searches for hydrothermal vent sites," he said. "We've have the vehicles just a few tens of meters away and missed them and then come back and find them. So it really is, you know, literally it's just a needle in a haystack situation unless you've got a pretty precise location"
Jamie Pringle, an expert in forensic geosciences at Keele University in the United Kingdom says the first 24 hours are critical in these kinds of rescue operations and that time period has long passed.
"So there's always a chance. It's never zero. But I think obviously the longer the time elapses, the lower the chance of success," he said.
Larter called it a "desperate situation" buy says you try to stay optimistic as long as possible.
"It's kind of unimaginable if people are alive, trapped in a submersible with oxygen supplies running down," he said.
THE SEARCH FOR THE SUBMERSIBLE IS NEARING THE CRITICAL 96-HOUR MARK
This undated image provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company's Titan submersible. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File)
The search is nearing the critical 96-hour mark when breathable air is expected to run out, reaching a vital moment in the intense effort to save the five people aboard.
The Titan submersible was estimated to have a 96-hour supply of breathable air when it launched Sunday morning in the North Atlantic. That means the deadline to find and rescue the sub is roughly between 6 a.m. (1000 GMT) and 8 a.m. (1200 GMT) on Thursday based on estimates the U.S. Coast Guard and company behind the expedition have provided.
Experts say that the oxygen supply number is an imprecise estimate and could be extended if passengers have taken measures to conserve breathable air. And it's not known if they survived since the sub disappeared Sunday morning.
Officials have expanded the coverage area to thousands of miles -- twice the size of Connecticut and in waters 2 1/2 miles deep. Airplanes, ships, remote-operated underwater vehicles and a U.S. Navy-owned specialized salvage system have been deployed, concentrating where unidentified noises had been heard for two days. The noises raised hopes of a possible discovery.
TITAN SEARCHERS FACE UNDERWATER CHALLENGES TO FIND SUBMERSIBLE
Underwater mountains and valleys. Deep-sea water pressure. Weather conditions. And a search area twice the size of Connecticut -- in waters 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) deep -- with few clues about the Titan's location.
The crews tasked with finding the Titan, which was reported overdue Sunday night, are facing all those challenges and more to locate the submersible amid the North Atlantic waters.
While undersea search efforts are nothing new -- a 2019 expedition found two lost Japanese aircraft carriers that went down in World War II's historic Battle of Midway around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands -- looking for the 22-foot-long (6.7-meter) carbon-fiber vessel amid the vast ocean is far more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.
Those Japanese aircraft carriers were exponentially larger than the Titan -- and still they were lost for decades after the June 1942 air and sea battle.
"I've seen large vessels hiding within extreme geology so searching for smaller objects requires more detailed scrutiny as opposed to searching for a sunken (cruiser) or aircraft carrier," wrote Robert Kraft, a deep-sea explorer who was part of the 2019 expedition, in an email to The Associated Press from aboard his latest voyage.
SOUND MAY HELP, OR HINDER, SEARCH FOR MISSING SUBMERSIBLE
Teams racing to find the missing Titan submersible have detected underwater noises in the search area. But it won't be easy to find the source of that sound in the "noisy" ocean.
There are many other potential sources of sound underwater, including from fish, other animals and of course human-made instruments, according to Matt Dzieciuch, an ocean acoustics expert at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
While the Coast Guard said search teams heard banging noises at 30-minute intervals, it's still unclear whether the banging noises were a true signal of life.
Usually, an underwater vehicle will have a device called a pinger that can correspond with the surface and make it easier to locate, Dzieciuch said. But it's unclear whether the Titan submersible was using one.
The search team is facing additional challenges because sound gets bent as it travels underwater, due to how pressure and temperature change at different depths, Dzieciuch said. That can create echo-like effects and make it hard to locate the source of a particular sound.
TITAN FACED PROBLEMS DURING PREVIOUS VOYAGES
Since its first expedition to the Titanic shipwreck in the summer of 2021, the Titan's crews encountered problems aboard the submersible, including issues with its electrical system and battery, according to documents filed in a federal court in Virginia that oversees matters involving the Titanic shipwreck.
The issues during the first expedition were mostly electrical problems that were "solved as they came up," according to the documents filed by OceanGate Expeditions, the undersea exploration company that commanded the Titan's missions.
Ultimately, 18 of the submersible's crew members explored the wreck site for the first time in 2021, the filing stated. Others, such as Paul-Henry Nargeolet, had already traveled to the site.
Nargeolet co-piloted four dives in 2021 and is one of the five people missing since the submersible vanished Sunday on its latest dive to the Titanic wreck.
The 2022 expedition brought more problems to the Titan.
"On the first dive to the Titanic, the submersible encountered a battery issue and had to be manually attached to its lifting platform," the company wrote in another filing. "In the high sea state, the submersible sustained modest damage to its external components and OceanGate decided to cancel the second mission for "repairs and operational enhancements."
TITAN EXPEDITION FEATURED MULTIPLE MISSIONS TO SHIPWRECK
A search for the missing submarine is being conducted in a remote part of the Atlantic Ocean about 1,450 kilometres off Cape Cod.
The Titan's voyage this month was one of several missions the submersible took to the Titanic's wreck site in recent weeks.
The entire expedition began in early May in St. John's, Newfoundland in Canada and was expected to last until the end of June, according to documents filed in a federal court in Virginia that oversees matters involving the Titanic shipwreck.
Each mission lasted eight days, but it was not clear how many missions had taken place before the fateful trip -- or how many were scheduled to occur afterward. Eighteen total dives were planned.
An Instagram photo posted by OceanGate Expeditions, the undersea exploration company that commanded the Titan's missions, showed a group of smiling people labeled as "our Mission 3 and Mission 4 crew" at sea just days before the Titan vanished on Sunday -- the first day of its latest voyage.
UNDERSEA EXPLORATION ROBOTS CRITICAL IN SEARCH FOR MISSING SUBMERSIBLE
Remote-operated robots that are typically used for undersea exploration will instead be critical to any hope of finding the Titan.
There were two such remotely operated vehicles -- or ROVs -- in North Atlantic waters on Wednesday, with more on the way.
Designed to scan the sea floor in real time, the ROVs are outfitted with cameras and travel to depths many other vessels cannot.
ROVs have been used for undersea exploration since at least the mid-1980s, according to deep-sea explorer Katy Croff Bell, who is president of Ocean Discovery League.
The vessels are expensive to use and their method of data collection can be slow and painstaking, which is partly why scientists know so little about the ocean floor even after years of exploration.
But the ROVs might be the only way to find the Titan after the submersible vanished Sunday on a dive to the wreckage of the Titanic.
"ROVs are essential to the search and rescue mission," Bell said. "Really the only way you're going to be able to recover anything from the deep sea floor in real time."
SIMPLE VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER USED TO STEER TITAN
The Titan is steered by a simple, off-the-shelf video game controller -- to the shock of gamers worldwide.
It's not the only commercially available equipment onboard the submersible, according to OceanGate Expeditions' website.
"The use (of) off-the-shelf components helped to streamline the construction, and makes it simple to operate and replace parts in the field," the company said on its website.
The undersea exploration company, based in Everett, Washington, oversaw the Titan's mission and has been making yearly voyages to the Titanic since 2021.
OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush, in an interview with the CBC last year, said the video game controller is "super durable." There are spare controllers kept onboard, but is not clear whether the submersible also had manual controls or other redundancies.
"It's meant for a 16 year old to throw it around," said Rush, who is the Titan's pilot and among the five people missing.
Documents show the company was repeatedly warned that there might be catastrophic safety problems posed by the way the submersible was developed.
OceanGate's Titan submersible is made of carbon fibre and titanium. It weighs 9,525 kilograms and can reach a depth of up to 4,000 metres in the ocean. The submersible can also carry a payload weight of 685 kg and contains 96 hours of "life support" for a crew of five. (Graphic: Jasna Baric / CTVNews)
SPECIALIZED UNDERWATER VESSEL FLOWN FOR SEA FLOOR SEARCH
The daunting search and rescue effort for the Titan is rushing experts and specialized underwater equipment together by land, by air and by sea to find the submersible before its oxygen runs out.
A remotely operated vehicle that can scan the sea floor, known as an ROV, was flown to Canada on Tuesday and is expected to arrive at the Titanic site on Thursday morning.
"The equipment that is onsite and coming is the most sophisticated in the world and certainly capable of reaching those depths," said Sean Leet, chief executive of Canadian Horizon Maritime company.
The company and the Mi'kmaq band co-own the Polar Prince, which is the research vessel that launched the Titan.
The Polar Prince ship is seen while moored in Vancouver, B.C., Oct. 23, 2017. OceanGate hired the Polar Prince to ferry dozens of people and the submersible craft to the North Atlantic wreck site. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
"We are praying for our friends onboard the Titan submersible," said Miawpukek First Nation Chief Mi'sel Joe. "We want them to come home safely. We ask everyone across Canada and the world to pray with us that we can find and rescue the Titan."
U.S. NAVY SENDING EQUIPMENT FOR POSSIBLE SALVAGE
The U.S. Navy is sending a specialized salvage system that's capable of hoisting "large, bulky and heavy undersea objects such as aircraft or small vessels" in the hopes that the Titan will be found in the waters of the North Atlantic.
The Titan weighs 20,000 pounds (more than 9,000 kilograms). The U.S. Navy's Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System is designed to lift up to 60,000 pounds (27,215 kilograms), the Navy said on its website.
The Flyaway has a traction winch as well as a system that prevents "high-snap tension" from occurring in the lift line.
PASSENGER ON 2021 DIVE TO TITANIC DESCRIBES RISKS
Arthur Loibl, one of the submersible company Oceangate's first customers, holds up a photo of the Titanic, in Straubing, Germany, June 21, 2023. (Armin Weigel/dpa via AP)
Looking back on his own 2021 dive to the Titanic, an early OceanGate passenger says one must be "a little bit crazy."
Arthur Loibl, a retired businessman and adventurer from Germany, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he conceived the idea to see the Titanic while on a 2016 trip to the South Pole. He paid $110,000 for a dive in 2019, but the first submersible didn't survive testing. Loibl went two years later.
"Imagine a metal tube, a few meters long with a sheet of metal for a floor. You can't stand, you can't kneel. Everyone is sitting close to or on top of each other," Loibl said. "You can't be claustrophobic."
The dive, which was repeatedly delayed to fix problems, took 10 1/2 hours, he said.
Lost aboard the vessel are pilot Stockton Rush, the CEO of the company leading the expedition. His passengers are a British adventurer, two members of a Pakistani business family and a Titanic expert.
"I was a bit naive, looking back now," said Loibl.
COAST GUARD BRINGS IN MORE SHIPS FOR SEARCH
The Coast Guard says it is bringing in more ships and underwater vessels to search for a submersible missing in the North Atlantic after underwater sounds were detected, providing a glimmer of hope three days after the Titan disappeared while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic.
Although the exact location and source of the sounds were not yet determined, they allowed searchers to focus on a more narrowly defined area. The full scope of the search was twice the size of Connecticut and 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) deep, said Capt. Jamie Frederick of the First Coast Guard District.
"This is a search and rescue mission, 100%," Frederick said. "When you're in the middle of a search and rescue case, you always have hope."
But even those who expressed some optimism warned that many obstacles remain: from pinpointing the vessel's location, to reaching it with rescue equipment, to bringing it to the surface -- assuming it's still intact -- before the passengers' oxygen supply runs out.
The U.S. Coast Guard did not elaborate on what rescuers believe the noises could be. The vessel hasn't been heard from since Sunday. The passengers are estimated to have as little as a day's worth of oxygen left.
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Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has undergone another operation two days after being shot multiple times and remains in serious condition, officials said Friday.
A parliamentary committee has summoned Canada's big five bank CEOs to talk about the environmental and climate impacts of the financial system.
To give Canadians a break on their summer road trips, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to suspend all gas and diesel taxes from Victoria Day to Labour Day.
Eight in 10 Canadians back a woman's right to an abortion and two in three don't want the notwithstanding clause used to restrict access to abortions, a new poll suggests.
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
A Canadian epidemiologist is warning the measles presents a 'very real threat' to public health if Canada doesn't maintain a high vaccination rate.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is asking that the federal government put the brakes on any approvals for new safe supply sites for drug users in Ontario and conduct a review of existing sites.
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
Albert Einstein was right: There is an area at the edge of black holes where matter can no longer stay in orbit and instead falls in, as predicted by his theory of gravity.
Elon Musk's brain implant startup Neuralink is accepting applications for a second human trial participant to test its device, the billionaire said on X Friday.
Security video aired by CNN appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs physically assaulting singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
A New Mexico judge is considering Alec Baldwin's request to dismiss a grand jury indictment against him at a virtual court hearing Friday.
According to figures released Friday, the former member of the Fab Four, Paul McCartney, is the first British musician to be worth 1 billion pounds (US$1.27 billion).
When Tim Hortons rang in the new year, it marked the occasion with a nod to its humble roots, bringing back a quartet of doughnuts, including some from its earliest days.
A group that represents a long list of spirit brands is warning that some popular products could be pulled from the Ontario market amid a multi-million dollar dispute with the LCBO.
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. said Thursday it's ready to sign on to the grocery code of conduct, paving the way for an agreement that's been years in the making.
Many Canadians found a message from the Canada Revenue Agency this week as they received their first direct deposit for the Canada Carbon Rebate.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Airplane overhead compartments. Home to luggage of all shapes and sizes, the odd coat or two, several duty-free bags, a fair bit of dust and… passengers?
World number one golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested and charged with the assault of a police officer in what he called a 'chaotic situation' before being released in time to start his second round at the PGA Championship on Friday.
Chris Streveler won't be flying to football games in a luxury private plane this season, but he's fine with that.
J.T. Miller scored in the final minute of the game and the Vancouver Canucks came back for a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series Thursday.
It’s a good time to be in the market for a used Tesla.
Auto technology has evolved and many newer cars use wireless key fobs and push-button starters instead of traditional metal keys. But that technology also makes things easier for thieves.
The Ontario government is expected to introduce legislation on Wednesday that, if passed, will see impaired drivers face stiffer penalties.
A B.C. woman says her service dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
ALS patient Mathew Brown said he’s hopeful for future ALS patients after news this week of research at Western University of a potential cure for ALS.
When Adam Kirschner wrote 'Slap Shot,' he never imagined the song would be embraced by his favourite team.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
One year after an allegedly reckless driver careened into a municipal park east of Victoria, killing a 52-year-old husband and father of two young children, there are few answers about what led to the crash and no criminal charges have been forwarded to prosecutors.
A medical procedure that can permanently change a person's eye colour may be trending on social media, but a B.C. optometrist is warning about the significant risks associated.
Jaye Robinson – a four-term city councillor who represented Ward 15 – Don Valley West for almost 14 years and also served for a time as chair of the TTC – has died.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is asking that the federal government put the brakes on any approvals for new safe supply sites for drug users in Ontario and conduct a review of existing sites.
A young child has died of measles in Ontario, marking the first death in the province from the highly contagious virus in more than 10 years, a Public Health Ontario report confirms.
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
The Alberta Medical Association is expressing deep concerns to the provincial government over a lack of oncologists needed to provide cancer care to keep up with population growth.
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
More than half of business owners in Ottawa's ByWard Market and on Rideau Street say they are not planning to extend their leases or are uncertain about their future in the popular tourist area.
Air Canada is boosting service out of the Ottawa International Airport with up to 30 additional weekly flights for the winter season, and increasing service to Chicago, Washington and Halifax and adding more capacity on flights to Vancouver.
The Ottawa Police Service says four people from Quebec are facing charges related to auto thefts involving a tow truck in Centertown.
Palliative care, which is offered when someone is diagnosed with a serious illness, often gets confused with hospice care, which is comfort without curative intent.
A woman in Quebec’s Eastern Townships has been awarded nearly $460,000 in damages after she was attacked five years ago by a trio of dogs.
The Ottawa Police Service says four people from Quebec are facing charges related to auto thefts involving a tow truck in Centertown.
Officials will provide an update on the 20,000-hectare fire burning southwest of Fort McMurray on Friday.
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
The Edmonton Police Service is set to speak publicly about its response during the teardown of a protest camp at the University of Alberta.
A judge has found Colin Tweedie guilty on three counts in connection to the death of 10-year-old Talia Forrest on a Cape Breton road on July 11, 2019.
The four teenagers facing charges in connection to the death of 16-year-old Ahmad Al Marrach pleaded not guilty in a Halifax courtroom on Friday.
The parents of one of the teens seen in a video that’s been widely circulated in Fredericton and beyond are calling for change.
The Winnipeg police bomb unit removed a 'volatile substance' from a Winnipeg hospital research centre Friday afternoon, prompting an evacuation.
Less than a day after a thunderstorm rolled through Manitoba, bringing hail, heavy winds, and a tornado warning, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) say a severe thunderstorm is possible on Friday.
Winnipeggers were left surveying the damage and cleaning up after a thunderstorm rolled through the city Thursday afternoon.
The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) and province have announced a tentative agreement on Friday afternoon.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says claims of intimidation and harassment by legislative Speaker Randy Weekes are 'unequivocally false.'
Regina based Hudson Hill Industrial Apparel is company that is changing the way clothing is produced across Canada, partnering with Indigenous communities and addressing workers' needs along the way.
A driver has been sentenced to seven years behind bars after two people were killed in a Cambridge crash.
No injuries were reported after a metal debris on Highway 403 came flying through the windshield of a pickup truck, narrowly missing the two occupants of the vehicle, Ontario Provincial Police say.
A Cambridge woman charged with second-degree murder in connection to the fatal 2020 stabbing of her daughter has been found not criminally responsible.
The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) and province have announced a tentative agreement on Friday afternoon.
A Saskatoon family doctor says the province’s new billing system is a disaster.
A Saskatoon water skier who is blind and deaf has partnered with a well-known artist to fundraise for the national adaptive water ski team.
World number one golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested and charged with the assault of a police officer in what he called a 'chaotic situation' before being released in time to start his second round at the PGA Championship on Friday.
A Sault Ste. Marie man has been jailed for 10 days for failing to comply with a court order banning him from fishing.
A 29-year-old suspect in Sault Ste. Marie has been charged after police received reports this week of an extremely intoxicated person getting into a vehicle.
A London man is facing multiple charges after allegedly obtaining sexual services and assaulting a woman earlier this year in a south end hotel room. Police believe there could be additional victims, and have released a photo and name of the accused.
A London, Ont. mother of five was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday for her part in the stabbing death of Daniel Fawcett, the ex-guitarist for the rock band Helix.
Windsor Regional Hospital president and CEO David Musyj is leaving his position in Windsor and heading to London.
The Trent-Severn Waterway has opened for the season.
Two people face charges in connection with a stolen vehicle that was involved in a collision in Muskoka.
Work to extend Bryne Drive in Barrie's south end is ahead of schedule.
Windsor Regional Hospital president and CEO David Musyj is leaving his position in Windsor and heading to London.
New trainees are hard at with the Windsor Police Service Canine Unit this week.
Chatham-Kent police say a 27-year-old man has been arrested for drug trafficking after police seized $45,000 in drugs.
One year after an allegedly reckless driver careened into a municipal park east of Victoria, killing a 52-year-old husband and father of two young children, there are few answers about what led to the crash and no criminal charges have been forwarded to prosecutors.
The Victoria Day long weekend is expected to be busy for travellers, according to B.C. Ferries.
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has sentenced the mother and stepfather of a six-year-old boy who died from blunt-force trauma in 2018 to 15 years in prison.
One person is dead after a fight in Penticton early Sunday morning, according to authorities.
A suspect is at large after robbing a convenience store at gunpoint in Merritt, B.C., Friday, according to local police.
After four targeted shootings in four days, Mounties in Kamloops are taking the unusual step of warning the public about two men they believe are likely to be targeted in future violent incidents.
Lethbridge has been working to address lawlessness in the city’s downtown over the past six months.
It's just about patio season in Lethbridge, and the city is once again rolling out its annual patios and parklets program.
Family and friends are mourning the loss of an Alberta couple who were killed Sunday in a highway crash northwest of Lethbridge, Alta.
While most teens are hanging out at shopping malls, an Indigenous teen with ties to the Sudbury, Ont., area is expanding her business with a second location and is hoping to inspire others.
A 29-year-old suspect in Sault Ste. Marie has been charged after police received reports this week of an extremely intoxicated person getting into a vehicle.
Ontario’s Ministry of Labour has charged Algoma Steel with three violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in connection with the death of Damien Bryant in June 2023.
Canada's new $10-a-day child care program is expanding, but there's growing evidence that demand for the program is rising even faster, leaving many parents on the outside looking in.
A new study shows an Atlantic salmon population in southern Newfoundland is disappearing, and it says nearby aquaculture operations are a likely contributor to the decline.
Police in Newfoundland say patrol officers were assaulted Thursday by a "very irate male" wielding a block of cheese.
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