Titanic submarine missing: Member of Belfast Titanic Society, Rory Golden, is on mothership and was due to descend too - Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush visited Northern Ireland in February

Search teams are racing against time to find the mini-submarine, Titan, that went missing during a dive to the Titanic's wreck.

Five people were on board when contact with the small tourist sub was lost about an hour and 45 minutes into its dive on Sunday.

"The Belfast Titanic Society remain very concerned that everyone is found safe and well and that all the efforts continue to be made in the international rescue effort," Mr McMichael told the News Letter.

He added: "We have a special connection because one of the adventurers / explorers who is actually on the mothership is an honorary member of the Belfast Titanic Society - Rory Golden."

"When we initially heard the news we contacted him and he responded to say that he was safe and well and he was thanking everybody for the good wishes that had been sent from all around the world.

"But obviously he said that they were all focussed very much on the international rescue efforts."

Dubliner Rory - a keen international adventurer and professional diver is a formal part of the expedition - though not an employee - and has been part of the previous expeditions run by the same company, Oceangate.

"He has been down to the wreck, I am not sure how many times," Aidan added.

"He has not been down on this trip but was down on the last one."

"He would have been planning to go down on this expedition."

Aidan has not been down and would not consider it - not least because of the cost.

Rory is the only member of the Belfast Titanic Society who has visited the ship several times

"The reason he is on the expedition is because he is an experienced Titanic adventurer / expert and secondly, because he is an expert, professional diver."

One of the people on the missing sub is the CEO of Oceangate - the company running the expedition - Stockton Rush, an American.

"He visited Belfast in February with his wife Wendy and Rory," Aidan said.

"We met him and heard about the expeditions, including this one."

Members of the Belfast society would have been invited to join this expedition, but none accepted, not least because tickets were $250,000.

"But their main purpose in visiting was to update the Belfast Titanic Society about what they were doing.

"In hindsight it takes on more significance because he is now in this extremely difficult position."

He describes Mr Stockton as "very earnest" about the intention of providing scientific data about the wreck that would be available for future generations.

Mr McMichael believes anyone who travels almost three miles underwater to see the Titanic understands the risks.

"The media have been using the word tourists but they are not traditional tourists.

"They are these explorers / adventurers, the people that are on board have been to the Antarctic and done all these strange things - that is in their nature. They are used to going on risky adventures."

The reason the Titanic attracts them is because The Titanic "has its own enduring story in the world - not only the wreck - just the story.

"We know that in Belfast we built, designed and constructed the ship - so it is important to the story of Belfast.

"The wreck is different because of the tragedy on its maiden voyage. But it is of interest to explorers because of the depth to which it sank and the fact that a large part of it has survived over 100 years."

It is regarded as relatives of those who died as a grave site, which is carefully respected by Oceangate, he added.