Missing Titanic submersible live updates: Texts show OceanGate CEO dismissed concerns

Five people, including the company CEO, were aboard the sub when it imploded.

ByMorgan Winsor, Emily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, Meredith Deliso, and Nadine El-Bawab
Last Updated: June 26, 2023, 9:05 AM EDT

All passengers are believed to be lost after a desperate dayslong search for a submersible carrying five people that vanished while on a tour of the Titanic wreckage off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

The 21-foot deep-sea vessel, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, lost contact about an hour and 45 minutes after submerging on Sunday morning with a 96-hour oxygen supply. That amount of breathable air was forecast to run out on Thursday morning, according to the United States Coast Guard, which was coordinating the multinational search and rescue efforts.

Titanic tourist submersible goes missing.
ABC News

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Jun 20, 2023, 12:58 PM EDT

Former ABC News correspondent recounts moment his sub was trapped in Titanic's propeller

In 2000, Dr. Michael Guillen, then an ABC News correspondent, was filming from the wreck of the Titanic when his vessel became trapped in the propeller.

"When we collided with the propeller, and I started seeing those big chunks of metal raining down on us … the first reaction I had was, 'This can't be happening,'" he recalled to ABC News on Tuesday.

"We got caught by this underwater turn and just drove us right into the blades," Guillen said.

"This voice came into my head and said, you know, 'This is how it's going to end for you,'" he recalled. "I'll never forget those words."

"I'm very aware of what these poor souls on board the ship the Titan are experiencing," he said. "I am just heartbroken about it."

Jun 20, 2023, 11:35 AM EDT

French sending assistance

At the request of French President Emmanuel Macron, a French ship named Atalante is diverting to the area of the missing submissive and should reach the area Wednesday night.

The ship has an exploration robot that can dive up to 4,000 meters, according to a spokesman for France's Ifremer Institute.

PHOTO: FILE - The port bow railing of the Titanic lies in 12,600 feet of water about 400 miles east of Nova Scotia as photographed earlier this month as part of a joint scientific and recovery expedition sponsored by the Discovery Channel and RMS Titantic
The port bow railing of the Titanic lies in 12,600 feet of water about 400 miles east of Nova Scotia as photographed earlier this month as part of a joint scientific and recovery expedition sponsored by the Discovery Channel and RMS Titantic.
Reuters, FILE

Jun 20, 2023, 9:04 AM EDT

'It's a race against time'

Per Wimmer, an explorer and global financier, told ABC News he was "shocked" and "horrified" to hear of the missing submersible.

"It felt very personal. … I've been wanting to go down to the Titanic for more than a decade," Wimmer said.

This handout image taken during the historical 1986 dive, courtesy of WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) and released Feb. 15, 2023 shows the Titanic bow.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institu/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

He estimated that there's been between 150 and 200 missions to the Titanic.

There "are very, very few submersibles in the whole world that can go down to the depth of Titanic, which sits at 3,800 meters, or about 12,000 feet," Wimmer said. "It's very deep -- most submersibles can go down to about 1,000 meters."

"It's a race against time, because there's only 96 hours of oxygen on board. And after that, if you haven't reached the surface, you starve of oxygen," he said.

"Our best hope at the moment is that the safety mechanism will be activated," he said. "It is supposed to be able to float to the surface, little by little, and then they can open the hatch and hopefully get out again. That is the only hope we have, because you do not have enough time to get another submersible that can go that deep."

-ABC News' Dom Proto

Jun 20, 2023, 1:30 PM EDT

Who are the 5 people on board?

Renowned explorers and a father-son duo were among the five people aboard a submersible that disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday while touring the Titanic wreckage, ABC News has learned.

ABC News has confirmed the identities of those aboard as: Shahzada Dawood, a Pakistani businessman, and his son Suleman Dawood; Hamish Harding, a British businessman, pilot and space tourist; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French diver and Titanic expert; and Stockton Rush, the CEO and founder of the submersible's Washington-based operator, OceanGate Expeditions.

-ABC News' Victoria Beale, Miles Cohen, Laryssa Demkiw and Anna Rabemanantsoa

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