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What is The Explorers' Club? Two members missing in Titan submersible as group awaits 'good news'

The Explorers Club is a diverse professional group dedicated to scientific adventure and outdoor research

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: The Explorers Club is awaiting 'good news' since two members of the professional group are missing in the Titan submersible on a visit to the Titanic wreckage. The club is a diverse professional group dedicated to scientific adventure and outdoor research.

The club as per Guardian was started in New York City in 1904 and has since gone global. Its chapters provide lectures and seminars, give student field research grants, produce newsletters, and organize expeditions, field excursions, and educational activities.

'There is cause for hope, based on data from the field'

Hamish Harding, a passenger aboard the lost Titan submersible, was a founding member of the Explorers Club's Board of Trustees. Richard Garriott, president of Explorers Club, issued a hopeful statement on the Titan submersible search and rescue mission. Garriott said in a statement posted on June 19, “When I saw Hamish last week … his excitement about this expedition was palpable. I know he was looking forward to conducting research at the site”. The club commemorates five noteworthy occasions when its members performed a "famous first" feat, including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's 1969 moon landing. Richard Garriott, president of Explorers Club, issued a hopeful statement on the Titan submersible search and rescue mission. "There is cause for hope, based on data from the field – we understand that likely signs of life have been detected at the site." 

'Our hearts are with the family and friends of fellow Explorers Club members'

The society also expressed hope in believing that the rescues were doing  "everything possible" to find the missing submersible. The group had pleaded with the US government to deploy Meglan 6000 ROV which till recent reports hasn't been confirmed to have been involved in the rescue. "We continue to work on approval for the Magellan ROVs to be allowed to deploy to the site as we believe they can provide invaluable assistance. Our hearts are with the family and friends of fellow Explorers Club members Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and the rest of the submersible crew as we await hopefully good news."

'We are fully mobilized to help'

Two of the stranded five - British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding and French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet - are members of The Explorers Club, a community of experienced explorers. However, as per Independent, Magellan had been contacted by OceanGate early on Monday. "We are ready to support and we are fully mobilized to help," it had said in a statement following the request. The US Coast Guard opted against sending Magellan's vessel to the location where the firm volunteered its services, citing its distance from the search site as the cause. The Titanic wreckage is located at a depth of around 3,810 meters, but the vessels now deployed to the site can only reach depths of 3,000 meters, according to the organization. Deep Energy, the submarine reported by the US Coast Guard to have been deployed at the site, is only rated to a depth of 3,000 meters.