The US Coast Guard said all five people aboard the Titan submersible are believed to be dead. Photo: AFP
The US Coast Guard said all five people aboard the Titan submersible are believed to be dead, and debris discovered in the search area at the Titanic wreckage for the missing vessel was consistent with a “catastrophic implosion”.
The coast guard briefed the media on Thursday evening following the search of the OceanGate Expeditions submersible.
Rear Admiral Mauger said an underwater robot found a tail cone of the missing Titanic submersible this morning.
Mauge said the the Titan’s debris was found 1 600 feet from the Titanic’s wreckage after a “catastrophic implosion” of the vessel.
He said there “doesn’t appear to be any connection” between the underwater noises detected in the search-and-rescue mission and the location on the seafloor.
“This was a “catastrophic implosion” of the vessel which would have “generated a significant… sound down there that the sonar buoys would have picked up… The debris is consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber. Upon this determination we immediately notified the families.
“We as the US Coast Guard want to extend our condolences to the families of those on board,” Mauger said.
When asked if it’s possible the vessel collided with the Titanic, he said it was found off the bow of the Titanic.
Mauger also noted that it’s too early to tell the timing of the catastrophic implosion.
“We know that as we’ve been prosecuting this search over the course of the last 72 hours and beyond, that we’ve had sonar buoys in the water nearly continuously and have not detected any catastrophic events when those sonar buoys have been in the water,” he said.
Paul Hankins, the US Navy’s director of salvage operations and ocean engineering said search crews discovered “five different major pieces of debris” identified from the Titan submersible.
“The nose cone, located outside the pressure hull, was the first piece found. Then, they found a large debris field which had an end bell of the pressure hull.”
He said rescue crews found a second, smaller debris field within the first, where the other end of the pressure hull was located.
“We continue to map the debris field and, as the admiral said, we will do the best we can to fully map out what’s down there,” Hankins said.
Mauger said the search for the crew members of the Titan will continue despite a challenging environment.
“This is a incredibly unforgiving environment down there on the sea floor… So we’ll continue to work and continue to search the area down there, but I don’t have an answer for prospects at this time.”
The Titan submersible was reported missing Sunday – eight hours after it initially lost contact with its surface ship – and its 96-hour oxygen supply would have run out Thursday morning.
The sub was carrying British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani tycoon Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions Stockton Rush, and French submarine operator Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Nargeolet is the director of a deep ocean research project dedicated to the Titanic.
Earlier, tour company OceanGate Expeditions said it believed the five passengers on board the missing sub have died.
“We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost,” it said in a statement.
“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans. Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”
The tour company said it is devastated by the tragedy.
“This is an extremely sad time for our dedicated employees who are exhausted and grieving deeply over this loss. The entire OceanGate family is deeply grateful for the countless men and women from multiple organisations of the international community who expedited wide-ranging resources and have worked so very hard on this mission.
“We appreciate their commitment to finding these five explorers, and their days and nights of tireless work in support of our crew and their families,” the company said.
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