A submersible known for taking tourists into the deep sea to view the Titanic wreckage has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean.
The U.S. Coast Guard in Boston told NPR that they have begun a search and rescue mission for the vessel.
The BBC reported that the submersible is owned by OceanGate Expeditions, a company that offers underwater voyages to explore the remains of the iconic shipwreck from the seafloor.
OceanGate Expeditions has not yet responded to NPR's request for comment but its website said an expedition was "currently underway," as of June 13, according to the company's website via the Wayback Machine.
It is unclear if people were on board at the time the vessel was declared missing, according to the BBC.
The company's deep sea tour lasts about eight days and costs $250,000 per person. About six guests can join at a time. From St. John's in Newfoundland, Canada, explorers travel 380 miles offshore and 2.3 miles below the surface, according to the company's website.
The company gained popularity in recent years for creating the first-ever-full-sized digital scan of the Titanic. Founder Stockton Rush has been pushing for deep-sea exploration to draw interest in a similar vein as privatized space travel. [Copyright 2023 NPR]
