Channel 4 News to air ‘Titan Titanic’ rescue special

The hour-long special follows the on-going events out at sea.

Rescuers in a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean are in a race against time to find a tourist submersible that went missing during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic. Tonight on Channel 4 News the ITN Production reports on the latest developments from the ocean and hears from the experts

The tourist submersible, named Titan, went missing with five people on board during a dive to explore the wreck of the Titanic. Alarms were raised when Titan lost contact with its mothership just under two hours into the dive on Sunday afternoon, according to the US Coast Guard. To reach the wreck of the liner the vessel has to drop to depths of 12,500 feet, an incredibly dangerous mission for the experts. And if something goes wrong that far down there is no easy rescue, especially as Titan had no ‘back up assistant’ sub to help if something went wrong.

Operated by OceanGate an American company the tour costs $250,000 (£195,000) for an eight-day experience including the Titanic visit.

The Titanic was launched on May 31, 1911, and set sail on its maiden voyage from Southampton on April 10, 1912, with 2,240 passengers and crew on board. On April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg, the Titanic broke apart and sank to the bottom of the ocean, taking with it the lives of more than 1,500 passengers and crew. It rests in two sections on the seabed with miles of debris around it.

The grave that is the Titanic has become a business, where profit over respect has been at the forefront of visits virtually since the day the liner was located in 1985.

Channel 4 News Titan Rescue Special

The Titanic sunk in 1912, it has been the subject of movies, a stage musical and an ITV drama.

TV Critic Vivian Summers:

“I was amazed to hear such a thing as a ‘tourist’ excursion existed to the Titanic; a bit tasteless, but we have to hope those involved don’t meet the same fate as the poor souls in 1912. Maybe this should be the end of frivolous visits to the ocean bed, it is after all one massive tomb of death that wreck.”

Channel 4 News, 7pm, Channel 4.