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USA today reported on Tuesday (20/6), rescue teams had to race against time because the submarine, which was used to transport groups including tourists for expeditions to the site of the wreck of the Titanic, only had the capacity to survive for four days or less.

The Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said the submarine was delayed around 9:13 p.m. Sunday. The US Coast Guard in Boston, which is leading the search, said it lost contact with the submarine on Sunday afternoon.

The Coast Guard’s first district commander, Rear Admiral John Mauger, told a news conference that two aircraft each from the United States and Canada were involved in the search, along with one commercial vessel.

He said the location of the operation – about 900 miles east of Cape Cod and up to 13,000 feet deep – made the search complicated.

“This is a remote area and it was a challenge to search the area,” Mauger said.

“But we are deploying all available means to ensure that we can locate the plane and save those on board,” he said.

On Twitter, the Coast Guard wrote that the 21ft submarine, which left St. John’s, began diving with five people on board Sunday morning (6/18).

A British explorer and a French military veteran and submarine expert are said to be among those on board.

The ship’s owner, OceanGate Expedition, a Washington-based deep-sea exploration company, confirmed the incident.

“We are very grateful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and shipping companies in the search effort, we are working hard to re-establish contact with the submarine,” the company said in a statement.

Concerns are growing for the fate of the ship and the crew on board. The submarine has emergency survivability for 96 hours underwater, which includes oxygen and fuel.

“So we expect between 70 and 96 full hours to be available at this point,” the company said.