When the Titan submersible lost contact with its mothership, the Polar Prince, during a dive to the wreckage of the Titanic, the surface crew reportedly did not notify the Coast Guard of the missing vessel for nearly eight hours. However, on Wednesday afternoon, the Polar Prince’s owner insisted that “all protocols” had been properly followed. Horizon Maritime chairman Sean Leet said at a press conference outside the company’s offices in St. John’s, Newfoundland, where the Titan vanished 400 miles off the coast, that he and his company were “aware of the time sensitivity around the mission,” adding that they “remain focused on the search of the Titan and for the crew and keep hope they will be found safely.” Leet ended his remarks without providing any new details of the search-and-rescue operation, but told reporters that OceanGate, the operator of the ill-fated $250,000-a-head tour, “runs an extremely safe operation.”
