A manned submersible and crew, midway through an expedition surveying the famous shipwreck Andrea Doria south of Nantucket, paid a visit to Menemsha Monday.

OceanGate, a Washington state-based company that does underwater research and exploration, has been contracted by Argus Expeditions to explore the sunken ship 60 years after it wrecked 50 miles south of Nantucket. The company’s manned submersible Cyclops I and marine operations team are diving with the goal of capturing high-definition video footage and 3-D sonar images of the shipwreck.

Ship Warren Jr. is working with submersible on diving voyage at famed shipwreck of Andrea Doria. — Buddy Vanderhoop

OceanGate director of media and marketing Joel Perry said Monday that the crew and submersible have spent about two days at the wreck, making two dives primarily at the bow of the ship. “It’s going pretty well,” he said, adding that the submersible took a number of scans Sunday.

The Vineyard was a convenient spot to drop off and pick up changing crew and do some work on the launch system, Mr. Perry said, adding that the Cyclops I has to be recharged and some minor damage had to be fixed. The submersible arrived with the ship Warren Jr., which has been chartered to operate with the submersible.

In late July 1956, the 697-foot Italian passenger luxury liner Andrea Doria was sailing from Genoa to New York with 1,706 passengers aboard. South of Nantucket and east of Long Island, the ship encountered heavy fog and collided with Swedish passenger liner Stockholm. Most passengers were rescued before the Andrea Doria eventually sank. The Stockholm remained seaworthy. More than 50 people died in the accident.

Among those aboard were a family from West Chop: Dr. Robert Boggs, his wife, and their children Barbara and Robert. “The ship listed heavily and instantly, so it was difficult to move on the stairways and through the corridors. The place was filled with oil-smoke and steam,” Mrs. Boggs told the Gazette in 1956 as she recounted the incident. All four family members were rescued.

Today the Italian ship is about 240 feet below surface; it has been a popular but dangerous dive site, nicknamed the Mt. Everest of scuba diving. Over the 60 years the ship has been on the ocean floor, more than 15 divers have died trying to explore the wreck, including Tom Pritchard, a Penn State professor who died diving at the wreck last summer.

According to OceanGate, the submersible’s survey expedition will provide new, important knowledge by producing high-resolution video and photography of the wreck and sonar scans that will create a virtual model of the ship.

The weather so far has been divable, though a dive planned for Saturday was postponed because of fog, Mr. Perry said. Dogfish and other critters have been spotted around the wreck and hundreds of dolphins have been swimming around the gear at the surface. “Tons of whales” have also been spotted, he said. “It looks to be a nice feeding area.”

The crew was headed out again Monday afternoon. and will return to Menemsha early Thursday morning. With people joining the expedition from all over the country, including some from Falmouth, Mr. Perry said, the Vineyard is a convenient logistically for people to depart the ship. From Menemsha the boat will cruise to Boston and begin work on compiling information from the expedition, a complicated process that could take several weeks.

As the imagery is processed the results will be shared with the public, Mr. Perry said.