Vessel Missing On Expedition To Titanic Wreck With 5 Aboard: Officials

This story was last updated at 9:20 p.m. Monday.

BOSTON — The U.S. Coast Guard in Boston is leading a search for a submersible vessel with five people aboard, which lost contact with the surface during an expedition to the wreck of the Titanic.

The OceanGate Expeditions vessel was reported overdue around Sunday night after diving to the wreck, which is in the Atlantic Ocean about 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and media reports.

The ruins of the Titanic are at a depth of around 12,500 feet, as NBC Boston notes.

The 21-foot submersible has a 96-hour oxygen supply (4 days), and there should be at least 70 hours left as of 4:30 p.m. Monday, said the Coast Guard.

The crew submerged on Sunday morning, and lost contact with the ship that carried the vessel "approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes into the vessel’s dive" according to the U.S. Coast Guard, Northeast.

A Coast Guard Hercules Air Craft and a Canadian Coast Guard P8 aircraft equipped with underwater sonar capability are searching for the missing vessel, the USCG said.

OceanGate confirmed it is working with government agencies in the search, and said their "entire focus" was on the crew members and their families.

"We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely," OceanGate said in a statement. "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 crewmembers."

Officials have not identified the five people aboard as of Monday evening, and said a pilot and four "mission specialists" were aboard.

U.K. businessman and explorer Hamish Harding said on Sunday that he was part of the expedition along with Titanic research specialist Paul-Henry Nargeolet of France.

Harding posted on his Instagram page that he was on the expedition as a "mission specialist."

"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," Harding wrote on Saturday. He added that the crew had begun traveling from St. John's in Newfoundland to the site, where they were scheduled to start dive operations at 4 a.m. local time Sunday.

"The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet," Harding continued.

David Concannon, an advisor to OceanGate, told the Associated Press that officials were working to get a remotely-operated vehicle that can reach a depth of 20,000 feet to the site as soon as possible.

The AP reports that this expedition was OceanGate's third annual voyage "to chronicle the deterioration" of the once-splendid Titanic, which has been in the watery depths since 1912. Since the wrecked ocean liner's split remains were discovered in 1985, a metal-eating bacteria has been consuming the ship according to the report.

The initial group of tourists funded the expedition by spending anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000 per person, reported the Associated Press.

Currently, a ticket to one of the expeditions can cost up to $250,000 according to the BBC.

The below Google Maps embed shows the GPS coordinates where the wreck is located, about 435 miles south of the mission launch point in St. John's.