Paul Morigi/Getty Images for World Food Program USA
(NEW YORK) — Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has agreed to plead guilty to a pair of tax-related misdemeanors as part of a deal that would end a politically fraught and years-long probe into his personal and professional life, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
Under an agreement negotiated with the U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware, the younger Biden, 53, will acknowledge his failure to pay taxes on income he received in 2017 and 2018. In exchange, prosecutors will recommend probation, meaning he will likely avoid prison time.
The agreement also includes what is known as a pretrial diversion for one felony count related to illegal possession of a firearm, which would not require Hunter Biden to submit a plea on that charge and stipulates that prosecutors would agree to drop it if he adheres to certain terms over a specified period of time.
If a federal judge accepts the deal, Tuesday’s development would mark the conclusion of an investigation that has dogged not only Hunter Biden, but also his father, whose political foes have latched onto the younger Biden’s overseas business dealings to level allegations depicting the entire Biden family as corrupt.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — District Judge Aileen Cannon has set a tentative date of Aug. 14 for the start of former President Donald Trump’s trial on charges of obstruction and mishandling classified documents, per a new scheduling order posted to her court docket Tuesday morning.
(NEW YORK) — Andrew Tate, the influencer detained in December by Romanian officials, has been charged with rape, human trafficking and creating an organized crime group, local prosecutors said in a statement on Tuesday.
Tate faces the charges along with his brother, Tristan, another internet personality, and two other women, both Romanian nationals, prosecutors said.
The Tate brothers will “embrace the opportunity it presents to demonstrate their innocence and vindicate their reputation,” a spokesperson said.
“Tate’s legal team are prepared to cooperate fully with the appropriate authorities, presenting all necessary evidence to exonerate the brothers and expose any misinterpretations or false accusations,” the spokesperson told ABC News in a statement.
They have all been in police custody — first in jail, then under house arrest — for about six months as they awaited the full charges.
File image of the Titan submersible prior to commence diving. (Ocean Gate)
(NEW YORK) — A submersible carrying five people has gone missing while on a tour of the underwater wreckage of the Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
The 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. The United States Coast Guard immediately launched a search and rescue operation for the 21-foot craft, named Titan, in coordination with the Canadian Coast Guard and the Canadian Armed Forces.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 20, 8:19 AM EDT
What to know about the 5 people aboard the missing sub
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 and identified four of those on aboard as Hamish Harding, a British businessman, pilot and space tourist; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French diver and Titanic expert; Shahzada Dawood, a Pakistani businessman, and his son Suleman Dawood.
Jun 20, 7:48 AM EDT
US Coast Guard commander talks search for missing sub
The United States Coast Guard commander leading the search for a missing submersible off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, said Tuesday morning that crews in multiple aircraft have flown over an area of the Atlantic Ocean “roughly about the size of Connecticut” while “looking for any signs of surfacing.”
“As we continue on with the search, we’re expanding our capabilities to be able to search under the water as well,” Rear Adm. John Mauger, commander of the First Coast Guard District, told ABC News’ Robin Roberts during an interview on Good Morning America.
A commercial vessel with remotely operated vehicles is now on scene that will allow rescuers to search underwater, according to Mauger.
“This is a complex case,” he added. “The Coast Guard doesn’t have all the resources to be able to affect this kind of rescue, although this is an area that’s within our search zone.”
In many cases, Mauger said, the Coast Guard’s role is to coordinate all of the assets and technical expertise that can be used in a search, in addition to operating aircraft or ships when necessary.
“In this particular case, we’ve established a unified command with the United States Navy, with the Canadian Armed Forces, with the Canadian Coast Guard and with the private operator OceanGate Expeditions to make sure that we understand what’s needed and deploy all available equipment to the scene that could be used to locate this submersible, whether it’s on the surface or down beneath the surface,” he said.
Crews have been working “around the clock” to locate the deep-sea vessel since it lost contact with its operator on Sunday morning, according to Mauger.
In the last 24 hours, a Canadian aircraft has been dropping sonar buoys into the water that can pick up sound the submersible may be emitting. Vessels that have the capability to listen with their own sonar equipment are also on scene, according to Mauger.
“If they are making sound, that’s certainly one of the ways that we’re going to use to locate them,” he said.
Jun 20, 6:18 AM EDT
Missing sub is believed to be deeper than NATO rescue capability
A tourist submersible that disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday is believed to be at depths that greatly exceed the capabilities of the NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS), according to a spokesperson for the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense.
“As the host nation for NATO’s multinational submarine rescue capability, we continue to monitor the incident in the North Atlantic and will guide and assist in any response activity as appropriate,” the spokesperson told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday.
The U.K. has not been approached to offer assistance in the ongoing search for the deep-sea vessel off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, according to the spokesperson.
Initial reports indicate that the depths of water involved greatly exceed that which the NSRS team can safely operate — 610 meters for the NSRS submersible and 1,000 meters for the NSRS remotely operated vehicle, according to the spokesperson.
The NSRS is based at the home of the U.K. Royal Navy Submarine Service in HM Naval Base Clyde, the U.K. Royal Navy’s headquarters in Scotland. Introduced in 2006, the tri-national capability team can respond to a stricken submarine in rescuable water which is capable of mating with the NSRS submarine rescue vehicle, according to the spokesperson.
Jun 20, 5:03 AM EDT
Former Navy sub captain on rescue options
Rescuers racing against the clock to save the five people trapped in a tourist submersible nearly two miles deep in the Atlantic Ocean are facing major obstacles that could make saving the people onboard extremely difficult, according to a former U.S. Navy submarine commander.
Retired Capt. David Marquet told ABC News on Monday that this type of rescue operation is complicated because there aren’t nearby U.S. or Canadian underwater vessels that can go as deep as the Titanic wreckage, which sits 13,400 feet below the ocean’s surface. Also, the ocean is pitch black at that depth.
“The odds are against them,” Marquet said. “There’s a ship in Boston that has this ability to either lower cable and connect to it or have a claw. It’s still a thousand miles away.”
Even if a vessel was able to locate the submersible and lower a cable, it’s extremely difficult to safely navigate the waters and attach it, according to Marquet.
“You’ve got to get it exactly right,” he told ABC News. “It’s sort of like … getting one of those toys out of those arcade machines. In general, you miss.”
Rescuers do have one advantage, Marquet said, as weather conditions off the coast of Newfoundland are not rough and will not disturb any boat or vessel there.
Marquet added that if the five people aboard are still alive, they would be asked to sleep to conserve their oxygen.
“We would put the vast majority of the crew to sleep because that’s when you’re using the least amount of oxygen and you’re expelling the least amount of carbon dioxide,” he said.
Jun 20, 4:27 AM EDT
What to know about the missing sub
A submersible on a tour of the Titanic wreckage was reported overdue by its operator OceanGate Expeditions on Sunday, prompting the United States Coast Guard to launch a search and rescue effort for the 22-foot, 23,000-pound vessel.
Designed with life support to sustain five crew members for 96 hours, the submersible would need to be rescued in three days to save its five passengers, according to the Coast Guard.
Stockton Rush founded Washington-based OceanGate in 2009 to make deep-sea exploration more accessible to scientists and tourists. Fourteen years, more than 200 dives and three submersible designs later, the company now finds itself in a desperate search to recover the submersible carrying five people aboard that’s gone missing off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
OceanGate confirmed Monday it had lost contact with a submersible, saying in a statement: “We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely. Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families. We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers.”
(PARIS) — Police were searching offices associated with organizers of the Paris 2024 Olympics on Tuesday as part of two financial investigations, French officials said.
“A police search is currently underway at the headquarters of the Organising Committee,” the Paris 2024 committee, COJOP, said in a statement. “Paris 2024 is cooperating fully with the investigators to facilitate their investigations.”
A search was also underway Tuesday at the offices the Société de Livraison des Ouvrages Olympiques, also known a SOLIDEO, a spokesperson for France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office told ABC News.
The searches were part of two open investigations, the spokesperson said.
The first investigation, opened in 2017, was into possible “counts of illegal taking of interests, embezzlement of public funds, favoritism and concealment of favoritism targeting several contracts awarded in particular by” the organizing committee, the spokesperson said.
The second investigation, opened in 2022, was into possible “illegal taking of interests, favoritism and concealment of favoritism relating to several contracts awarded by the COJOP and SOLIDEO, following an inspection by the French Anti-Corruption Agency,” the spokesperson said.
The first investigation was being pursued by France’s Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offenses. The second was under the Brigade for the repression of economic crime, the official said.
(NEW YORK) — Hamish Harding, one of the five people aboard a submersible missing near the Titanic wreck, is no stranger to exploration.
Harding circumnavigated the Earth in 2019, he said on Facebook. He made a dive in 2021 to the deepest point on earth, Challenger Deep, in the Mariana Trench. And he traveled into space last year aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard.
Now he’s one of five passengers aboard the missing OceanGate Inc. tourist submersible, for which the U.S. Coast Guard and others have launched a round-the-clock search.
“Our entire focus is on the wellbeing of the crew and every step possible is being taken to bring the five crew members back safely,” OceanGate said as part of an emailed statement.
The submersible, which last pinged in a location close to the Titanic wreck, was designed with life support to sustain five crew members for 96 hours.
Here’s what we know about the people onboard:
Hamish Harding
Harding, a British businessman and chairman of Action Aviation, previewed his dive to see the Titanic shipwreck in a Facebook post.
“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,” he posted on Sunday. “A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow.”
Shahzada and Suleman Dawood
Shahzada Dawood is vice chairman of Engro Corporation Limited, a sprawling business headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. Suleman Dawood is his son, the family said in a statement.
“Our son Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman, had embarked on a journey to visit the remnants of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean. As of now, contact has been lost with their submersible craft and there is limited information available,” the Dawood family said.
The statement continued: “A rescue effort that is being jointly led by multiple government agencies and deep-sea companies is underway to reestablish contact with the submersible and bring them back safely. We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety while granting the family privacy at this time. The family is well looked after and are praying to Allah for the safe return of their family members.”
(WASHINGTON) — This year’s legislative elections in Virginia could determine the fate of local abortion rulemaking and gun policy, control of two narrowly divided statehouses and Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s legislative agenda.
Political observers say the results could also give some hint about the mood of voters as the 2024 election cycle gets underway.
The contests will begin to ramp up on Tuesday when Virginians will select candidates in primaries across the state heading into the general election in November. As the only major set of legislative elections in a purple state this year, the races are seen as something of a bellwether for the broader electorate, even as turnout is expected to be low because the contests don’t overlap with higher-profile races like those for president or governor.
“We’re looking for signals in a year that we don’t have any,” the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics director, Larry Sabato, told ABC News.
“The elections are revealing because Virginia has a blue tinge to it, but it’s not as blue as we thought it was,” Sabato explained.
While Virginia has reliably voted Democratic in presidential races since 2008 — Joe Biden beat Donald Trump there by 10 points — its state and local elections are closer.
“Virginia could become competitive again,” Sabato said.
Primaries playing out in divided government
Tuesday will see a total of 47 nominating contests: 31 of them Democratic and 16 for Republicans. GOP nominees have already been selected for an additional nine contests, which were conducted through party-run races over the past few weeks.
The vast majority of the state’s legislative districts have a reliable partisan tilt. Only three of Virginia’s 40 state Senate seats and eight of its 100 House of Delegates seats are considered competitive, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a political data nonprofit.
At a time of divided government in Virginia, those few districts could be critical. In 2021, Republicans flipped control of the governorship and gained a 50-46 majority in the House of Delegates, while Democrats hold a two-seat majority in the state Senate.
Given this, experts say primary results will have influence over the chances of either party winning Virginia’s Legislature, as particular primary candidates may fare better or worse in a competitive general election.
Most of the swing districts in the state are located on the fringes of the urban centers in Northern Virginia, Richmond or the Hampton Roads region — suburban areas that have proven decisive in recent elections.
Primary divides for both parties
On the Democrats’ side, one major breaking point between primary candidates is their financial backing, according to Democratic strategist Benjamin Tribbett. Several primaries pit one candidate endorsed by Dominion Energy, Virginia’s largest electric utility, against another endorsed by the advocacy group Clean Virginia, which donates to candidates who swear off campaign contributions from Dominion.
While energy is not a major issue on the ballot, the funding points to generational splintering within the party over Dominion’s historically dominant presence in Richmond politics.
“The new candidates, the ones who are running for the first time, are more likely to side with Clean Virginia, and the Dominion candidates have been in the Legislature for a long time,” Tribbett said.
The 2017 elections were a watershed moment for this issue, when 12 Clean Virginia-backed candidates won seats in Virginia’s House of Delegates. Now, more than two-thirds of state House Democrats are in that group — compared to about half of state Senate Democrats. This year’s record level of incumbent retirements, a result of Virginia’s recent redistricting reform, could create new inroads in the usually incumbent-friendly chamber.
“That’s really the question: whether that wave is now going to hit the Senate in 2023,” Tribbett said.
Meanwhile, Republican candidates differ on their support for former President Trump. Results from the nominating contests so far have been trickling in over the past few weeks, as localities conduct conventions — that is, a cluster of hyperlocal contests which use weighted voting to pick the winner — or “firehouse primaries,” all-day affairs that amount to massive winner-take-all competitions. There will be 16 more GOP primaries on Tuesday.
Early results from the previous nominating events have been mixed, as conventions have picked some Trump-aligned candidates and others have distanced themselves from their party’s early presidential front-runner.
The primaries are also an indication of Youngkin’s pull with voters, given how many endorsements he’s made.
He has backed 10 candidates in contested races. Three of those have already emerged victorious in local conventions, none have lost and the remaining seven will go to primaries on Tuesday.
Overall, Tribbett said, “In the key districts, the governor has really cleared the field for most of the candidates he wants.”
Specific races and candidates to watch
The race for the state Senate’s 17th District will measure the strength of the governor’s endorsement, as Youngkin-backed Del. Emily Brewer squares off against Hermie Sadler, a businessman and retired NASCAR driver.
In the Richmond suburbs, the Republican primary in the state Senate’s 12th District pits Sen. Amanda Chase, a self-described “Trump in heels,” against two more moderate conservatives: Glen Sturtevant, a former state senator, and business owner Tina Ramirez. Chase has butted heads with party leadership, receiving an official censure by the Virginia Senate when she praised those who participated in Jan. 6. The winner of the primary will face off against Democrat Clint Jenkins in a race that analysts estimate is narrowly right-leaning.
Finally, the primary in the Virginia Senate’s 13th District will test Democrat’ views on abortion, as incumbent Rep. Joe Morrisey, a self-described “pro-life” Democrat, squares off against progressive Lashrecse Aird, who supports more access to abortion than Morrisey does.
Morrisey’s tenure in politics has survived multiple controversies, including a sex scandal and jail time. Now, he is crafting his pitch to voters around other issues, including his record on criminal justice reform and economic opportunity in his majority-minority district.
Virginia Republicans widely support legislation that would restrict access to abortion, making such a law likely if the party holds the state House and flips the state Senate.
(NEW YORK) — On Oct. 8, 2013, 12-year-old Sammy Cohen Eckstein was crossing the street outside his home in New York when a car struck him, tragically ending his life.
“He was crossing the street for soccer practice. That should not be a deadly act. Kids should be able to navigate our streets,” his mother Amy Cohen told ABC News.
Sammy’s death is part of a distressing trend: Child pedestrian deaths in the United States have risen an alarming 11% since 2013, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
In response, the AAP is urging communities to adopt policy changes and environmental safety measures to make roads safer and help save lives.
In its first policy statement on pedestrian safety since 2009, the AAP reports that there has been an increase in child pedestrian deaths despite a decrease in overall pedestrian deaths in the past 30 years. The increase in deaths is most prominent among 10 to 14-year-olds and 15 to 19-year-olds.
“The epidemiology of pedestrian safety has taken a turn for the worse. There’s been an urgency to get a statement out,” Dr. Brian D. Johnston, professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and co-author of the report, told ABC News.
The rise in child pedestrian injury may be in part be because more children are walking to school in response to public health campaigns to promote physical activity and reduce pediatric obesity.
Another reason for the rise in child deaths on the road are smartphones and other technology that can distract both drivers and pedestrians.
“Adolescent pedestrians, when they are walking, they might be listening to music or looking at their phone,” Dr. Sadiqa A. I. Kendi, chief of pediatric emergency medicine at Boston Medical Center and co-author of the policy statement, told ABC News. “The combination of distracted walking and driving has contributed to the increased child deaths over time.”
In 2020, 235 child pedestrians (0-14 years old) died in roadway crashes and 81 died in incidents on driveways or private lots. An additional 245 pedestrian deaths were older teens (15-19 years old).
The United States has one of the highest motor vehicle crash deaths compared to other high-income countries, even after adjusting for population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The U.S. needs to shift its mindset around road safety, the AAP said in its policy statement. Individual education on road safety is important, but real change comes from policy changes and safer roads.
“Education only goes so far,” Kendi said. “People are people, they are not always going to know what to do.”
The AAP is promoting a policy called “Vision Zero,” which aims to eliminate all traffic fatalities. Vision Zero recognizes traffic injuries as a public health problem due to system failure, and aims to shift efforts away from correcting individual behavior and toward addressing systemic issues like unsafe roadways.
Initiatives include adding curb extensions, roundabouts and speed bumps to roadways in order to reduce car speeds.
Experts say speed is likely the largest risk factor in pedestrian death, with risk increasing dramatically as vehicle speed increases.
“It’s simple, the faster the car goes, the worse the injury,” Dr. Eric Fleegler, associate professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School, told ABC News. “That’s when we see life-threatening injuries.”
Other solutions to help reduce speed include lower speed limits, more automated speed limit enforcement cameras, and narrower roads.
Similar policies were introduced in Sweden in 1997. After their application, pedestrian fatalities were reduced by more than half.
Road safety measures are currently distributed unequally across the U.S. Those inequities are one reason why Black and American Indian pedestrians under 19 years old are almost twice as likely as white children to die in pedestrian events. Hispanic children have 1.2 times the risk of non-Hispanic children.
“Often, lower-income communities have larger arterial roads with multiple lanes and heavy traffic, with less green spaces and crosswalks,” said Kendi.
Lower socioeconomic areas also have “historically poor records of investments in infrastructure,” Johnston said. Targeting these communities with safety measures would likely help immediately with disparities, he noted.
The new guidelines are a wave of hope for families affected by child pedestrian death.
“I am thrilled to hear about this statement. We need systematic policy solutions,” Cohen told ABC News.
The AAP encourages pediatricians and community members to advocate for legislation addressing environmental changes such as street designs prioritizing pedestrian safety. Pediatricians can also join their local AAP chapter to help advocate for change.
“We have a lot of credibility as experts and spokespeople for child health. We can leverage our impact to make change that will actually make pedestrians safer,” Johnston said.
In 2014, Cohen co-founded Families for Safe Streets to help transform her grief into action.
“We started in New York after my son was killed and now we have 20 chapters across the country,” she said.
Joining local groups advocating for road safety is another way to help advocate for change, she said.
Ultimately, these changes are for the protection of all pedestrians.
“The emphasis in the 2023 version of the policy statement is on making walking environments safer for everybody,” Johnston said. “And that is the best way to make child pedestrians safe.”
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents is being denounced by some of the top brass in his administration.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, during appearances on the Sunday shows, painted Trump’s behavior as careless and unbefitting a political leader.
“This is not a circumstance where he’s the victim or this is government overreach,” Barr told CBS’ Face the Nation host Robert Costa.
“He provoked this whole problem himself,” Barr continued. “Yes, he’s been the victim of unfair witch hunts in the past, but that doesn’t obviate the fact that he’s also a fundamentally flawed person who engages in reckless conduct that leads to situations, calamitous situations, like this, which are very disruptive and hurt any political cause he’s associated with.”
Barr, when asked if he’d put the country “at risk” if reelected, said he will “always put his own interests and gratifying his own ego ahead of everything else, including the country’s interests.”
“There’s no question about it,” the former attorney general said. “This is a perfect example of that.”
Trump faces 37 felony counts as he’s accused of willfully retaining documents containing sensitive defense information regarding the nation’s nuclear programs and more, then tried to obstruct investigators trying to retrieve them.
He pleaded not guilty in a Miami courtroom on June 13. Trump has denied all wrongdoing, claiming the investigation is a political prosecution and relentlessly attacking special counsel Jack Smith.
Many Republicans have argued Trump’s been unfairly treated by a “weaponized” Department of Justice, but others have criticized his conduct as problematic.
On CNN’s State of the Union, Esper called the indictment’s revelations “disturbing” and outlined the security risks that unfold when classified information is mishandled. He also compared Trump’s case to that of Jack Teixeira, a young member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard accused of leaking sensitive documents online.
Asked if Trump should be trusted with the nation’s top secrets if elected president again in 2024, Esper said not if what the special counsel’s investigation has alleged is true.
“Based on his actions, again, if proven true under the indictment by the special counsel, no,” Esper told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“I mean, it’s just irresponsible action that places our service members at risk, places our nation’s security at risk,” Esper said. “You cannot have these documents floating around. They need to be secured.”
Barr served for roughly two years as attorney general before stepping down after the 2020 election following disputes with Trump over his unfounded allegations of voter fraud. Esper served for little more than a year before Trump announced he fired him in the fall of 2020.
Both men have turned critical of the former president, each penning books about their experiences working for him. Trump has taken to criticizing both men on his Truth Social platform, though he hasn’t responded directly to their latest statements.
Former President Mike Pence, who is challenging Trump for the Republican nomination, has recently toughened his stance against his one-time boss over the federal indictment.
Pence said last week he “cannot defend” what’s alleged in the 49-page indictment.
“The very prospect that what is alleged here took place — creating an opportunity where highly sensitive classified material could have fallen into the wrong hands, even inadvertently — that jeopardizes our national security [and] puts at risk the men and women of our Armed Forces,” Pence said.
File image of the Titan submersible prior to commence diving. (Ocean Gate)
(NEW YORK) — A submersible carrying five people has gone missing while on a tour of the underwater wreckage of the Titanic off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
The 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. The United States Coast Guard immediately launched a search and rescue operation for the 21-foot craft, named Titan, in coordination with the Canadian Coast Guard and the Canadian Armed Forces.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jun 20, 6:18 AM EDT
Missing sub is believed to be deeper than NATO rescue capability
A tourist submersible that disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday is believed to be at depths that greatly exceed the capabilities of the NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS), according to a spokesperson for the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense.
“As the host nation for NATO’s multinational submarine rescue capability, we continue to monitor the incident in the North Atlantic and will guide and assist in any response activity as appropriate,” the spokesperson told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday.
The U.K. has not been approached to offer assistance in the ongoing search for the deep-sea vessel off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, according to the spokesperson.
Initial reports indicate that the depths of water involved greatly exceed that which the NSRS team can safely operate — 610 meters for the NSRS submersible and 1,000 meters for the NSRS remotely operated vehicle, according to the spokesperson.
The NSRS is based at the home of the U.K. Royal Navy Submarine Service in HM Naval Base Clyde, the U.K. Royal Navy’s headquarters in Scotland. Introduced in 2006, the tri-national capability team can respond to a stricken submarine in rescuable water which is capable of mating with the NSRS submarine rescue vehicle, according to the spokesperson.
Jun 20, 5:03 AM EDT
Former Navy sub captain on rescue options
Rescuers racing against the clock to save the five people trapped in a tourist submersible nearly two miles deep in the Atlantic Ocean are facing major obstacles that could make saving the people onboard extremely difficult, according to a former U.S. Navy submarine commander.
Retired Capt. David Marquet told ABC News on Monday that this type of rescue operation is complicated because there aren’t nearby U.S. or Canadian underwater vessels that can go as deep as the Titanic wreckage, which sits 13,400 feet below the ocean’s surface. Also, the ocean is pitch black at that depth.
“The odds are against them,” Marquet said. “There’s a ship in Boston that has this ability to either lower cable and connect to it or have a claw. It’s still a thousand miles away.”
Even if a vessel was able to locate the submersible and lower a cable, it’s extremely difficult to safely navigate the waters and attach it, according to Marquet.
“You’ve got to get it exactly right,” he told ABC News. “It’s sort of like … getting one of those toys out of those arcade machines. In general, you miss.”
Rescuers do have one advantage, Marquet said, as weather conditions off the coast of Newfoundland are not rough and will not disturb any boat or vessel there.
Marquet added that if the five people aboard are still alive, they would be asked to sleep to conserve their oxygen.
“We would put the vast majority of the crew to sleep because that’s when you’re using the least amount of oxygen and you’re expelling the least amount of carbon dioxide,” he said.
Jun 20, 4:27 AM EDT
What to know about the missing sub
A submersible on a tour of the Titanic wreckage was reported overdue by its operator OceanGate Expeditions on Sunday, prompting the United States Coast Guard to launch a search and rescue effort for the 22-foot, 23,000-pound vessel.
Designed with life support to sustain five crew members for 96 hours, the submersible would need to be rescued in three days to save its five passengers, according to the Coast Guard.
Stockton Rush founded Washington-based OceanGate in 2009 to make deep-sea exploration more accessible to scientists and tourists. Fourteen years, more than 200 dives and three submersible designs later, the company now finds itself in a desperate search to recover the submersible carrying five people aboard that’s gone missing off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
OceanGate confirmed Monday it had lost contact with a submersible, saying in a statement: “We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely. Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families. We are working toward the safe return of the crewmembers.”
