Missing Titanic submersible live updates: ‘Debris field’ discovered in search area

Missing Titanic submersible live updates: ‘Debris field’ discovered in search area
Missing Titanic submersible live updates: ‘Debris field’ discovered in search area
File image of the Titan submersible prior to commence diving. (Ocean Gate)

(NEW YORK) — The search is intensifying 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 is forecast to run out on Thursday morning, according to the United States Coast Guard, which is coordinating the search and rescue efforts.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Jun 22, 12:10 PM EDT
‘Debris field’ discovered within search area, US Coast Guard says

The U.S. Coast Guard announced via Twitter late Thursday morning that “a debris field was discovered within the search area by” a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) “near the Titanic” wreckage.

“Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information,” the U.S. Coast Guard tweeted.

The Coast Guard is set to hold a briefing on the findings from the Horizon Arctic’s ROV at 3 p.m. ET.

Jun 22, 10:58 AM EDT
Crew members could survive for ‘hours’ after airtank depleted, doctor says

Despite their onboard oxygen tank expected to be depleted sometime Thursday morning, one doctor says they may have more time if the passengers are still alive. He estimates the five people aboard the lost Titanic tourist sub could survive for 10 to 20 hours with air still circulating through the experimental capsule.

Dr. Richard Moon, a professor of anesthesiology at Duke University, said that despite conditions being dire, those aboard the OceanGate Expedition’s submersible could extend the oxygen available after its tank is depleted by staying calm and moving as little as possible.

“The actual amount of time that they have is unpredictable, but it’s probably less than 24 hours after the final oxygen in the tank is depleted,” Moon, director of the Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology, told ABC News.

Read more here.

-ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson

Jun 22, 10:50 AM EDT
French ROV enters water in search area

The U.S. Coast Guard announced via Twitter on Thursday morning that a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) deployed by the French vessel L’Atalante has entered the water in the search area.

The U.S. Coast Guard also gave an update on the conditions at sea, saying winds were at 14 mph with gusts up to 19 mph, swells were 4 to 5 feet and the air temperature was 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Jun 22, 7:19 AM EDT
Canadian ROV begins search on sea floor

The U.S. Coast Guard announced via Twitter early Thursday that a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) deployed by the Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic has reached the sea floor, beginning its search for the missing submersible.

Meanwhile, the French vessel L’Atalante is preparing its ROV to enter the water in the search area, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Jun 22, 6:29 AM EDT
Search becomes dire as time runs out

Time is running out as rescuers race to locate and save five people trapped in a submersible that vanished during a tour of the Titanic wreckage on Sunday morning.

The deep-sea vessel submerged at 8 a.m. ET on Sunday with a 96-hour oxygen supply, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. That amount of breathable air is forecast to run out on Thursday morning.

The search and rescue mission remains ongoing.

Jun 22, 12:21 AM EDT
Wife of missing OceanGate CEO is great-great-granddaughter of couple who died on Titanic: NYT

The New York Times traced the lineage of Wendy Rush, wife of missing OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, and found that she’s the great-great-granddaughter of a couple who died on the Titanic, Isidor and Ida Straus.

The executive director of the Straus Historical Society told ABC News that The Times article, which cites archival records, is largely correct with regard to Wendy Weil Rush’s heritage.

Jun 21, 5:44 PM EDT
US Navy crane in Newfoundland but awaiting ship

A U.S. Navy portable crane system capable of bringing up items from as deep as 20,000 feet has arrived in St. John’s, Newfoundland, but is waiting to be welded onto a chartered ship to take it to the search area for the missing submersible, according to a U.S. Navy official.

The Navy has not yet contracted a ship for the salvage system, known as Fly Away Deep Ocean Salvage System or FADOSS, the official told reporters Wednesday. Once the ship is contracted, Navy teams will spend approximately 24 hours working around the clock to weld the system aboard the ship before it can leave port, the official said.

FADOSS is the salvage system the U.S. Navy uses for all of its deep-water recoveries. Last year, it was able to bring up an F/A-18 aircraft that had fallen into the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

-ABC News’ Luis Martinez

Jun 21, 2:56 PM EDT
Head of Horizon Maritime, which owns the Polar Prince boat, holding out hope

The co-founder and Board chair of Horizon Maritime, the company that owns the Polar Prince boat that took the Titan submersible out to sea, is speaking out.

“We have been supporting the Titanic expeditions for several years,” Sean Leet said, calling the Polar Prince “an iconic former Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker that has been upgraded with advanced technology.”

“All protocols were followed” for the submersible’s mission, he said at a news conference Wednesday, calling the missing sub an “unprecedented” situation.

Equipment heading to search site can reach the depths of the submersible and potentially take it to the surface, he said.

“We wish to thank everyone involved in this rescue mission, especially the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards, the organizations that have made their marina assets available including the French government … [and] the many private companies that have dropped everything at a moment’s notice,” Leet said.

“Our thoughts and focus remain with the crew of the Titan and their families,” he said.

Leet said he is holding out hope that the five-person crew will be brought home safely.

“We’ll continue to hold out hope until the very end,” he said.

Jun 21, 1:34 PM EDT
Coast Guard searching in area where noise was detected

As crews scour the Atlantic for the missing submersible, the Coast Guard said it’s searching in the area where a noise was detected.

The unidentified noise was detected Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

The data on the noise was sent to the U.S. Navy to be examined, he said.

“We have to remain optimistic and hopeful when we’re in a search and rescue mission,” Capt. Jamie Frederick, the First Coast Guard District response coordinator, said at a news conference Wednesday.

The five crew members submerged underwater Sunday morning with about 96 hours of oxygen available to them. That oxygen is forecast to run out Thursday morning.

When asked about the search becoming a recovery mission, Frederick said Wednesday, “We’re not there yet.”

Jun 21, 1:21 PM EDT
Coast Guard searching in area where noise was detected

As crews scour the Atlantic for the missing submersible, the Coast Guard said it’s searching in the area where a noise was detected.

The unidentified noise was detected Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

“We have to remain optimistic and hopeful when we’re in a search and rescue mission,” Capt. Jamie Frederick, the First Coast Guard District response coordinator, said at a news conference Wednesday.

The five crew members submerged underwater Sunday morning with about 96 hours of oxygen available to them. That oxygen is forecast to run out Thursday morning.

When asked about the search becoming a recovery mission, Frederick said Wednesday, “We’re not there yet.”

Jun 21, 12:56 PM EDT
Canada sends ship with advanced, deep sonar

One of the ships the Canadian Coast Guard sent to the rescue effort, the John Cabot, is equipped with advanced, deep sonar, said Joyce Murray, minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.

“We’ve sent so many assets to the search team to help,” Murray said. “Authorities still have hope in the mission.”

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

Jun 21, 12:47 PM EDT
Former passenger says his sub lost contact with host ship on all 4 trips

Mike Reiss, who has done four, 10-hour dives with OceanGate, including one to the Titanic, told ABC News his sub lost contact with the host ship on every dive.

“Every time they lost communication — that seems to be just something baked into the system,” he said.

With no GPS, Reiss said it took his crew three hours to find the Titanic despite landing just 500 yards from the ship.

Reiss said he signed “a waiver that mentions death three times on the first page.”

“It is always in the back of your head that this is dangerous, and any small problem will turn into a major catastrophe,” he said.

He said the submersible is built simply and is “just propelled by two fans on the outside.”

“Even I was able to steer and navigate the sub for a while,” he noted.

Reiss said his greatest fear was that the sub wouldn’t be able to release the weights that force it to submerge once it was time to rise to the surface.

-ABC News’ Gio Benitez and Sam Sweeney

Jun 21, 9:00 AM EDT
Would-be crew member of missing sub speaks out

Digital marketing tycoon Chris Brown originally planned to go on Sunday’s submersible tour of the Titanic wreckage but withdrew due to safety concerns. His friend, Hamish Harding, is among those aboard the missing vessel.

Brown, who described himself as a “modern day adventurer,” admitted that he knew “very little” about the tour operator, OceanGate Expeditions, prior to signing up. But he said the deep-sea trip initially sounded “like a great idea.”

“The Titanic’s obviously an iconic wreck,” Brown told ABC News’ Michael Strahan during an interview Wednesday on Good Morning America.

“OceanGate had put forward this program to go down and do a 3D scan of the wreck,” he added. “So it’s a chance for an expedition, exploration and adding a bit of science into the situation.”

Brown said safety concerns ultimately led him to pull out of the trip, but he declined to go into detail.

“I’m not really sure that this is the time to be going into that sort of thing,” he added. “I think that the focus right now has to be on trying to rescue these people. It’s not fair on the families and friends to be making speculation about what might’ve happened or how it happened at this point.”

Brown said he feels “no” apprehension about joining similar projects in the future but noted that it’s important to “think about all the risks.”

“If you don’t have an appetite for those risks, then you might not go ahead,” he said. “You may try and mitigate those by bringing in some expertise from outside. You might have other risks or dangers that could be mitigated by changing the time of when you go out there.”

Jun 21, 7:33 AM EDT
New details emerge about how the missing sub navigated the ocean

The submersible that was reported missing while on a tour of the underwater wreckage of the Titanic is an unorthodox vessel with a relatively unproven history, according to company press materials and experts familiar with underwater vehicles.

News of the vessel’s disappearance prompted a flurry of interest in the company OceanGate Expeditions and its deep-sea submersible called the Titan.

The company’s founder and CEO, Stockton Rush, who is one of the five people aboard the missing vessel, manned the Titan’s first “validation dive” to 4,000 meters in 2018, according to the company. The company then began offering tourists the opportunity to dive to the depths of the Titanic in the following years, selling tickets for the 2023 journey for $250,000.

Here’s what we know about how the submersible operates.

Jun 21, 6:57 AM EDT
‘Banging’ picked up by sonar in search area, source says

A source familiar confirmed to ABC News that there were reports of “banging” that were picked up by sonar in the search area on Tuesday morning, but nothing has yet been found.

The U.S. Coast Guard had said early Wednesday that an aircraft with sonar capability “detected underwater noises in the search area,” but remotely operated vehicles were unable to find the origin of the sound.

Jun 21, 6:34 AM EDT
Titanic mapping company ‘fully mobilized’ to help

Magellan, an international exploration company that digitally mapped the Titanic wreckage last year, said Wednesday that it is “ready to support” the search for the missing submersible and is “fully mobilized to help.”

The U.K.-based company told ABC News that it was contacted by the submersible’s operator, OceanGate Expeditions, early Monday and “immediately offered our knowledge of the specific site and also our expertise operating at depth considerably in advance of what is required for this incident.”

“We have been working full-time with U.K. and U.S. agencies to secure the necessary air support to move our specialist equipment and support crew,” Magellan said in a statement.

When asked for comment about media reports that U.S. authorities have failed to give Magellan the necessary permits to participate in the search, the company told ABC News it “does not not wish to comment on any specific media report.”

Jun 21, 12:34 AM EDT
USCG: Canadian aircraft detected ‘underwater noises’ but search ‘yielded negative results’

“Canadian P-3 aircraft detected underwater noises in the search area,” the U.S. Coast Guard tweeted early Wednesday morning. “As a result, ROV operations were relocated in an attempt to explore the origin of the noises. Those ROV searches have yielded negative results but continue.”

The data from the P-3 has been shared with U.S. Navy experts for further analysis, the Coast Guard added.

Jun 21, 12:34 AM EDT
Lawsuit alleged flaws with Titanic sub now missing

A former employee of OceanGate alleged in a 2018 counterclaim lawsuit that he was fired for raising concerns about quality control and testing of potential flaws in the same experimental submersible that went missing this week.

David Lochridge, an engineer and submarine pilot, claimed in his counterclaim against OceanGate that he was hired in 2015 by the Everett, Washington, company to ensure the safety of all crew and clients during the submersible and surface operations of the vessel called Titan. But when he expressed concerns about the design and testing of the minisub’s hull, he said he was terminated by the company.

OceanGate had initially sued Lochridge alleging, among other things, breach of contract, fraud and misappropriation of trade secrets — all claims he denied.

In its lawsuit, OceanGate accused Lochridge of breaching his contract by discussing the company’s confidential information with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration “when he filed a false report claiming that he was discharged in retaliation for being a whistleblower.”

Jun 20, 10:15 PM EDT
Latest Coast Guard bulletin spells out timeline for missing sub search

The U.S. Coast Guard sent out its latest release Tuesday night on the search for the missing submersible at the Titanic crash site.

According to the latest release:

Sunday, June 18, 8 a.m. ET: Submersible launches, supposed to resurface at 3 p.m., but an hour and 45 minutes into the dive, it loses contact.

Sunday, June 18, 5:40 p.m. ET: Coast Guard receives report of overdue submersible.

Monday, June 19: Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and C-130 Hercules aircraft, as well as a Canadian P8 aircraft equipped with underwater sonar capability, search for the missing submersible, according to a previous release.

Tuesday, June 20, 7 a.m. ET: Bahamian research vessel Deep Energy arrives.

Tuesday, June 20, 4 p.m. ET: C-130 crew from Air National Guard 106th arrives.

Jun 20, 8:33 PM EDT
Experts expressed Titan safety concerns in 2018 letter

Members of a committee specializing in submersibles expressed “unanimous concern regarding the development” of Titan in a 2018 letter addressed to OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who is one of the passengers aboard the missing vessel.

The letter was obtained by The New York Times and was later authenticated by ABC News.

The letter warned of possible “catastrophic” problems with Titan’s development that could have “serious consequences for everyone in the industry.” The letter goes on to say that OceanGate’s safety claims were “misleading to the public” and insisted Titan be reviewed by a third-party organization.

The letter, which was addressed from the Marine Technology Society, was never approved to be sent to OceanGate though was quickly leaked to its CEO, according to committee chair William Kohnen.

“The letter did represent in 2018 the consensus by many people in the industry that they were not considering following the standard safety protocols and designs that the industry uses,” Kohnen told ABC News.

Though he wishes it was not leaked at the time, nor now to The New York Times, Kohnen said he stands by the letter and its warnings.

“The company had indicated that their state of innovation was beyond, beyond what was allowable within the regulatory standards we have today and that they would proceed without certification,” Kohnen said. “That worried a number of people in the industry.”

Kohnen acknowledged that OceanGate did “heed” some of the comments made in the 2018 letter.

-ABC News’ Amanda Maile and Victor Ordoñe​z

Jun 20, 6:02 PM EDT
NASA weighs in on missing submersible

NASA released a statement Tuesday on the Titan, saying it remains “hopeful the crew will be found unharmed.”

“NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center had a Space Act Agreement with OceanGate, and consulted on materials and manufacturing processes for the submersible. NASA did not conduct testing and manufacturing via its workforce or facilities,” the agency said.

-ABC News’ Gina Sunseri

Jun 20, 6:17 PM EDT
Search teams have covered 7,600 square miles

Search and rescue teams have now covered 7,600 square miles — an area bigger than the state of Connecticut — as they scour the ocean for the missing submersible, Coast Guard officials said.

A grid depicting the expanding search area is expected Tuesday night, according to a public information affairs lieutenant for the First District of the U.S. Coast Guard.

-ABC News’ Miles Cohen

Jun 20, 3:09 PM EDT
US Navy sending salvage experts, equipment to help with submersible

The U.S. Navy said it’s sending to the search site experts and equipment “designed to provide reliable deep ocean lifting capacity for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy undersea objects.”

The equipment, which can lift up to 60,000 pounds, and the experts will arrive in Canada Tuesday night, the Navy said.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said earlier Tuesday that the Navy was”on standby” to help with the search for the missing submersible, because the Navy has “some deep-water capabilities that the Coast Guard wouldn’t necessarily have.”

President Joe Biden is “watching events closely,” Kirby said, adding that Biden and the White House offer their thoughts “to the crew onboard, as well as to the — what is no doubt — worried family members back on shore.”

Jun 20, 1:24 PM EDT
3 Air Force C-17’s transporting equipment to Newfoundland

Three U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft will be transporting commercial equipment from Buffalo, New York, to Newfoundland, Canada, to help with the search efforts, according to a U.S. official.

-ABC News’ Luis Martinez

Jun 20, 1:16 PM EDT
Search area larger than Connecticut, about 41 hours of oxygen left

Efforts to locate the missing submersible are ongoing, and the “complex” search covers an area larger than the state of Connecticut, Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick said at a news conference Tuesday.

Crews are scouring the ocean 900 miles east of Cape Cod and 400 miles south of St. John’s, Canada, he said.

The missing five-person crew on the submersible has about 41 hours of oxygen left, Frederick noted.

“We will do everything in our power to effect a rescue,” Frederick said.

“We have a group of our nation’s best experts,” he said, and once the sub is located, “those experts will be looking at what the next course of action is” to rescue the crew members.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the crew and their families and their loved ones,” Frederick added.

Jun 20, 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, 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.

Jun 20, 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.

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.”

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.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On This Day, June 22, 1971: Joni Mitchell releases ‘Blue’

On This Day, June 22, 1971: Joni Mitchell releases ‘Blue’
On This Day, June 22, 1971: Joni Mitchell releases ‘Blue’

On this day, June 22, 1971…

Joni Mitchell released her quintessential confessional singer/songwriter LP Blue, now considered one of the greatest albums of all time.

The album included the track “River,” which went on to become a holiday standard, and “A Case of You,” as well as songs about Mitchell’s relationships with James Taylor and Graham Nash, and the daughter she gave up for adoption in 1966. 

Blue peaked at #15 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and went on to be certified Platinum by the RIAA.

The album has earned a spot on many greatest albums lists, including Rolling Stone’s Greatest Albums of All Time list, where it landed at #3 in 2020.

Mitchell recently returned to the stage after a more than 20 year absence, performing at the Newport Folk Festival in 2022, and at Washington’s Gorge Amphitheatre in early June. A live album of her Newport concert, Joni Mitchell at Newport, will be released July 28.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Biden welcomes Indian Prime Minister Modi for state visit

Biden welcomes Indian Prime Minister Modi for state visit
Biden welcomes Indian Prime Minister Modi for state visit
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden rolled out the red carpet Thursday for Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India for the third state visit of his presidency.

The visit will put on full display the “deep and close partnership” between the U.S. and India, the White House said, despite concerns India’s democratic principles have eroded under Modi’s leadership.

The relationship has been described by Biden as “one of the most important” of this century as the U.S. rebalances its foreign policy focus to the Indo-Pacific in the face of an increasingly aggressive China. Just ahead of Modi’s visit, President Biden suggested Chinese President Xi Jinping was a “dictator.”

“There’s a strategic imperative in the region,” Tanvi Madan, the director of The India Project at the Brookings Institution, told ABC News. “Multiple administrations have seen India as a geopolitical counterbalance, an economic alternative and a democratic contrast to China.”

President Biden and the first lady welcomed Modi to the White House Wednesday evening and hosted him for a private dinner.

On Thursday, the two leaders greeted each other warmly on the South Lawn in a welcome featuring marching bands and honor guards, despite rainy weather. Vice President Kamala Harris, the first person of Indian descent in her role, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff were also there to greet the prime minister.

“The challenges and opportunities facing the world in this century require that India and the United States work and lead together, and we are,” Biden said.

Modi said the partnership between the U.S. and India “will be instrumental in enhancing the strength of the whole world.”

Biden and Modi met in the Oval Office and will hold a brief news conference.

Modi will later appear on Capitol Hill to address a joint meeting of Congress before a state dinner at the White House Thursday night.

About 400 guests are expected to attend the dinner, the White House said, which will include a plant-based menu and a mixture of American and Indian decor. There will be performances from American violinist Joshua Bell and from Penn Masala, a South Asian a cappella group from the University of Pennsylvania.

The last time Modi visited the U.S. was in 2019, when he appeared alongside former President Donald Trump at a “Howdy Modi” rally in Texas attended by tens of thousands of people.

Kenneth Juster, who served as the U.S. ambassador to India during the Trump administration, said he expects a set of “substantive discussions that will take the strategic partnership to the next level, especially in the areas of defense and technology.”

Modi’s trip to Washington, though, isn’t without controversy as the prime minister’s been criticized for a rise in violence against religious minorities as well as a crackdown on the press and dissenters.

Some democracy watchdogs have downgraded India’s rating in recent years. The U.S.-based Freedom House rated India as “partly free” in its 2023 report, and the Sweden-based Varieties of Democracy called India an “electoral autocracy.”

“He’s got a mixed record,” Richard Rossow, chair U.S.-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said of Modi. “We do see at times he feels politically weak domestically, he’s initiated steps that directly or indirectly seem to stoke the fears of religious intolerance by him and his party. And we’ve also seen crackdown on civil society to some extent.”

Human rights advocates and at least 70 lawmakers have called on Biden to directly address human rights violations during Modi’s visit. Experts told ABC News any human rights or democratic issues will likely be taken up in private between the two leaders.

Biden, as he welcomed Modi, took a moment to tout what he said were “core principles” shared between the two countries — specifically highlighting freedom of speech and religion.

“As democracies, we can better tap into the full talent of all of our people and attract investments as true and trusted partners as leading nations with our greatest export being the power of our example,” the president said. “Equity under the law, freedom of expression, religious pluralism, diversity of our people — these core principles have endured and evolved even as they face challenges throughout each of our nation’s histories and will fuel our strength, depth and future.”

There’s also the issue of Russia. India, which has long relied on Russian oil and weapons, has avoided outrightly condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

But experts noted Modi’s slight change in tone when it comes to Russia’s invasion, such as his recent statements on the importance of territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“Both Washington and New Delhi understand that they will not necessarily see eye to eye on Russia,” Juster said. “But they can discuss that issue candidly with each other, and it is not going to have a negative impact on their broader strategic partnership.”

A senior Biden official said the White House would “engage actively” with India on issues related to Russia and Ukraine, specifically India’s efforts to diversify away from Russian military equipment.

Talks between Biden and Modi are also expected to include trade, climate and space.

The two leaders are expected to announce a joint space mission, investments in semiconducter tech in India, a commitment from India to purhase drones from the U.S. and more.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking to the U.S.-India Business Council last week, touted trade between the two nations reached a record $191 billion. Blinken noted the U.S. is India’s largest trading partner, and Indian companies invested more than $40 billion in the U.S. in IT, pharmaceuticals and more.

Though Juster said be believed there is still more work to do to advance on the trade front.

“For the world’s largest economy, the United States, and its fifth largest economy, India, I believe that their bilateral trade relationship does not fulfill all of its potential. I am hoping that the two countries can continue to advance their trade and investment relationship both bilaterally and regionally, because economic issues are so important in the Indo-Pacific and China has a robust economic strategy for the region,” he said.

Prior to landing in Washington, Modi met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk as well as other business leaders and health care experts.

He also marked International Day of Yoga by participating in a group session on the lawn of the United Nations headquarters.

“Almost every nationality is represented here today,” he said. “And what an amazing cause to bring us all together: yoga. Yoga means to unite.”

ABC News’ Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Barry Gibb & Dionne Warwick among the 46th annual Kennedy Center Honors recipients

Barry Gibb & Dionne Warwick among the 46th annual Kennedy Center Honors recipients
Barry Gibb & Dionne Warwick among the 46th annual Kennedy Center Honors recipients
Getty/ Rune Hellestad – Corbis

The Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb and Dionne Warwick are among the artists who’ll be celebrated at the 46th edition of the Kennedy Center Honors gala. This year’s other honorees include comedian Billy Crystal, rapper/actress Queen Latifah and opera singer Renée Fleming.

“This year’s slate represents an extraordinary mix of individuals who have redefined their art forms and demonstrated remarkable tenacity and authenticity in becoming an original,” Deborah F. Rutter, Kennedy Center president, states. “Each of them has explored new terrain, stretched artistic boundaries, and most importantly, committed to sharing their gifts with the world.”

Gibb, who along with his brothers Robin and Maurice helped popularize disco in the ’70s thanks to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, called the recognition “a wonderful honor.” 

“It’s hard to be proud and humble at the same time. It is one of the most special moments in my life and something that I will always cherish,” Gibb shared. “Thank you to all those who made this dream a reality. I wish my brothers were here so that they could’ve shared in this special moment.”

Warwick, known for such hits as “Say A Little Prayer” and “That’s What Friends Are For,” said she’s “exceptionally happy” to receive the honor this year. She notes, “It’s very exciting to be recognized for my contributions to the music industry for the past 60 years.”

The 46th annual Kennedy Center Honors gala, hosted by Gloria Estefan, will take place December 3 in Washington, DC, with the celebration airing later on CBS.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

USDA approves first-ever ‘cell-cultivated meat’ for two American manufacturers

USDA approves first-ever ‘cell-cultivated meat’ for two American manufacturers
USDA approves first-ever ‘cell-cultivated meat’ for two American manufacturers
Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

(EMERYVILLE, Calif.) — After years of research and rigorous testing, cell-cultivated meat will officially become part of the U.S. food system.

Emeryville, California-based manufacturer UPSIDE Foods, which gave ABC News a look inside its facilities earlier this year, and Good Meat a cultivated meat division of the plant-based egg substitute food technology company Eat Just, are the first U.S. Department of Agriculture-approved cell-cultivated chicken meat producer and has been fully approved by the U.S. government for commercial sales nationwide.

The food and agriculture manufacturing industry has hailed this as a “historic” moment — after years of investment in UPSIDE Foods from Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Whole Foods founder John Mackey — as scientists tout the lab-cultivated meat as a possible solution for global warming, inhumane treatment of animals and growing global hunger.

Good Meat, which previously won multiple regulatory approvals to sell its chicken in Singapore, will begin production for the American market and launch with restaurateur and chef partner José Andrés.

The Alameda, California-based company called the latest USDA and FDA approvals a “watershed moment for the burgeoning cultivated meat, poultry and seafood sector, and for the global food industry.”

“We have been the only company selling cultivated meat anywhere in the world since we launched in Singapore in 2020, and now it’s approved to sell to consumers in the world’s largest economy,” Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of GOOD Meat and Eat Just said in a statement.

UPSIDE Foods says it will begin cultivation and sales of real chicken meat grown from animal cells in bioreactors.

It will first reach consumers on the menu of a San Francisco restaurant, Bar Crenn, helmed by James Beard Award-winning chef, restaurateur and activist Dominique Crenn, who is hoping to help mainstream the innovative protein.

Crenn is also the first and only female chef in the U.S. ever to be awarded three Michelin Stars, and only one of five total to achieve the distinction in the world.

In a blog post Wednesday, UPSIDE Foods called the historic milestone “the culmination of years of dedication, ingenuity, and resilience from our team and supporters and marks the beginning of a whole new era in meat production.”

Neither UPSIDE Foods nor Good Meat have a released date of first availability, but are working with their respective restaurant partners to bring it to market.

“Soon, Americans will be able to enjoy delicious meat that doesn’t involve the slaughter of billions of animals every year,” UPSIDE Foods wrote in the post.

The UPSIDE Foods team and Good Meat have now achieved all three key regulatory milestones: A “No Questions” Letter from the FDA, a USDA Label Approval, and the USDA Grant of Inspection.

Dan Glickman, Good Meat Advisory Board member and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and member of the U.S. House of Representatives, said in a statement Wednesday that his previous experiences gave him “the opportunity to work with countless individuals at the USDA who were committed to accelerating agricultural innovation and economic opportunity as well as promoting initiatives to better nourish Americans and feed people around the globe.”

“I commend the agency’s current leadership for working collaboratively with their FDA colleagues and the GOOD Meat team to reach this significant regulatory milestone,” Glickman continued. “Today’s approval demonstrates that the United States is a global leader in the promising alternative protein space while also continuing to support family farmers’ efforts to feed the world through conventional food and agriculture techniques.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

What to know about OceanGate, the company behind the missing Titanic submersible

What to know about OceanGate, the company behind the missing Titanic submersible
What to know about OceanGate, the company behind the missing Titanic submersible
JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Eager to test a submersible one month before its first trip to the deep-sea ruins of the Titanic, in the spring of 2018, OceanGate hit a snag: lightning storms and harsh winds that battered the Bahamas for weeks and rendered the test impossible, according to the company’s blog.

OceanGate canceled the initial Titanic voyage, pushing it back to the following year, the company said.

“While we are disappointed by the need to reschedule the expedition, we are not willing to shortcut the testing process due to a condensed timeline,” the company said. “We are 100% committed to safety.”

Five years after that called-off test, OceanGate has drawn international attention as rescue vessels search for the same submersible, called Titan, which went missing during the company’s latest trip to the famous shipwrecked ruins. The craft has five passengers on board, among them the company’s founder and CEO, Stockton Rush.

The oxygen in the submersible was set to run out on Thursday morning. OceanGate did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

OceanGate, founded in 2009, offers tourists the opportunity to travel on submersibles into the ocean’s depths for a closeup look at shipwrecks and underwater canyons. A spot on one of the trips can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Decades earlier, in the 1980s, Rush became the world’s youngest jet transport rated pilot, at age 19, the OceanGate website says. In the ensuing years, he earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

Rush said he launched OceanGate after an epiphany that the deep sea offered a sense of discovery he once thought only attainable for astronauts, according to an instructional video taped in collaboration with the nonprofit EarthEcho International in 2020.

“I had a realization in my early 40s that what I really wanted to be was an explorer,” Rush said. “All those things that I thought were in space were actually in the ocean.”

Seeking investment, OceanGate raised nearly $500,000 in 2014 and $19.3 million in 2020, government filings show.

The company ultimately assembled a fleet of three five-person submersibles named Antipodes, Cyclops 1, and most recently, Titan.

OceanGate, based in Everett, Washington, has conducted over 14 expeditions and more than 200 dives across the Pacific, Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, according to the company’s website.

The trip to the ruins of the Titanic lasts eight days, launching from St. John’s Newfoundland, Canada, and traveling 380 miles offshore and 3,800 meters below the surface of the ocean, according to the company’s website.

The journey does not require previous diving experience but passengers must be at least 17 years old, the website says. The trip costs $250,000 per passenger.

The company’s description of the trip online offers passengers an experience like the one that Rush said he sought when launching OceanGate.

“Become an underwater explorer,” says a company web page that details the Titanic voyage.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Mechanical bull from Commonwealth Games officially named after Ozzy Osbourne

Mechanical bull from Commonwealth Games officially named after Ozzy Osbourne
Mechanical bull from Commonwealth Games officially named after Ozzy Osbourne
Marc Atkins/Getty Images

The mechanical bull from the 2022 Commonwealth Games has officially been named after Ozzy Osbourne, the BBC reports.

The 33-foot statue was first unveiled during the sporting event, which took place in the Black Sabbath frontman’s hometown of Birmingham, England. Ozzy also performed during the closing night of the festivities, joining Tony Iommi for renditions of the Sabbath classics “Iron Main” and “Paranoid.”

“I can’t believe it, I’m absolutely blown away,” Ozzy tells the BBC. “I don’t know what to say any more, I’m just thrilled to bits. God bless you all, and Birmingham forever!”

As previously reported, Ozzy was one of four potential names for the bull, which was chosen by a public vote. The other possibilities were Boulton, referring to 1700s industrialist and Birmingham native Matthew Boulton, as well as Brummie and Bostin, slang for a Birmingham resident and the word “great,” respectively.

Ozzy’s Commonwealth set marked his first live performance in three years. Earlier this year, Ozzy announced his retirement from touring due to health issues, though he later said he wanted to continue to perform live. He’s scheduled to play the upcoming Power Trip festival in October alongside AC/DC, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden and Tool.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Kate Bush “blown away” by “Running Up That Hill” reaching 1 billion streams on Spotify

Kate Bush “blown away” by “Running Up That Hill” reaching 1 billion streams on Spotify
Kate Bush “blown away” by “Running Up That Hill” reaching 1 billion streams on Spotify
URLI/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Kate Bush’s classic tune “Running Up That Hill (Deal With God)” has scored a new milestone. The song has just reached 1 billion streams on Spotify.

The feat is so amazing even the often reclusive Bush needed to recognize it, taking to her website to thank her fans. 

“A billion streams! I have an image of a river that suddenly floods and becomes many, many tributaries – a billion streams – on their way to the sea. Each one of these streams is one of you…,” she writes. “Thank you! Thank you so much for sending this song on such an impossibly astonishing journey. I’m blown away.”

Released in 1985, “Running Up That Hill (Deal With God)” saw a new resurgence in 2022 thanks to its inclusion in season 4 of Netflix’s Stranger Things. The renewed interest in the song resulted in it reaching a new peak on the Billboard Hot 100, landing at #3.

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‘Dancing with the Stars’ pros Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy reveal their newborn’s name

‘Dancing with the Stars’ pros Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy reveal their newborn’s name
‘Dancing with the Stars’ pros Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy reveal their newborn’s name
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic via Getty Images

The moment has arrived as Dancing with the Stars pros Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy proudly unveil the name of their precious newborn son.

In a heartwarming Instagram announcement on Wednesday, June 21, Peta revealed that they have named their bundle of joy Rio John Chmerkovskiy.

“Born ~ 6.18.2023 8.6 oz and thriving,” she shared. “We are overjoyed to share our baby boy with all of you. @shai.aleksander is already the best big brother and we all feel very complete Life is good XO.”

This news comes just a few days after the couple joyously shared the arrival of Rio on June 18. Peta and Maksim are also parents to 6-year-old son Shai Aleksander.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ crosses $500 million worldwide

‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ crosses 0 million worldwide
‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ crosses 0 million worldwide
Sony Pictures

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has webbed up another box office milestone, surpassing $500 million globally.

Variety reports the Sony Pictures release, which opened June 2, has grossed $290.4 million in North America and $215.9 million internationally, bringing its worldwide haul to $506.3 million. It now ranks as the third-highest-grossing domestic release of the year, behind Universal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Disney’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, with $572 million and $345 million, respectively. It’s also the fourth-biggest global release following Mario‘s $1.3 billion, Guardians‘ $822 million and Fast X‘s $679 million.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, features the voices of Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Jake Johnson and Daniel Kaluuya.

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