The United States Coast Guard announced Thursday the five passengers inside the missing Titan submersible were “lost” in a “catastrophic implosion,” hours after authorities announced they’d found debris near the Titanic wreckage.
Authorities said they have not recovered the bodies of any of the five passengers, who were identified as billionaire British explorer Hamish Harding, French oceanographer and Titanic researcher Paul-Henri Nargeolet, OceanGate CEO and pilot Stockton Rush, Pakistani business mogul Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman, both of whom are British citizens. OceanGate, the company that owns the submersible, said in a statement prior to the press conference they believe the passengers have “sadly been lost.”
OceanGate says in a new statement that they believe the passengers of the Titanic submersible have “sadly been lost.”
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) June 22, 2023
“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” OceanGate Expeditions said in a statement, according to Reuters. “Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time.”
Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger said the debris found “is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” according to CBS News.
The U.S. Coast Guard announced earlier Thursday that a “debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic.”
The Titan submersible departed off the coast of St. John’s, Newfoundland, on Sunday but lost contact with the mother ship less than two hours after it began its descent in search of the Titanic wreckage. Experts estimated the submersible would run out of oxygen by Thursday, as it was equipped with 96 hours of breathable air at the time of its departure.
A Canadian surveillance plane detected underwater sounds, which some described as “banging noises,” on Tuesday and Wednesday, NPR reported.
Questions about the safety of the Titan have been raised in recent days, with Rush’s comments about “obscenely safe” regulations resurfacing from a 2019 interview with Smithsonian Magazine. Rush argued the allegedly strict rules prevented innovation within the commercial sub industry. Marine Technology Society member Bart Kemper said Rush was likely able to dodge some regulations by deploying the sub in international waters where U.S. laws aren’t applicable, according to Insider.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.